Trust Me, Darling
by TARossum
Summary: When Dean called Renee "darling", she started to realize that she had a crush on him. But after Roman's "babygirl" and Seth's "sweatheart", and seeing that she doesn't react to them the same way as she did to Dean, she knows it is more than a crush and she cannot make her feelings disappear. Will she find the courage to tell him and if so, will he feel the same?
1. Chapter 1

Roman Reigns's promo, reminding everybody his excellent performance during the Royal Rumble match when he eliminated 12 opponents, among others his teammates Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, was coming to an end and it was time for Renee to make an interview with the Hounds of Justice.

A big approving smile appeared on Roman's face as the video was over.

„Roman, we just saw highlights from your historic night at the Royal Rumble," Renee opened the backstage segment. „But now, you, Seth and Dean face perhaps your biggest challenge in Wyatt Family in 6-man tag match at the Elimination Chamber," she continued. „And the Wyatt Family actually got some pretty harsh words for you, guys, lately, do you have a response to that?"

Renee placed her microphone in front of Roman who was ready to answer her question.

„Babygirl," he tried to charm her with his confidence and sweetness, but her reaction was rather cold and ignorant. "Actions always speak louder than words, remember that," he finished his part without letting people see his disappointment.

When it was Seth's turn to continue, Roman shook his head a little in disbelief, but it referred to Seth's words as well so nobody would notice.

"Wyatts love to speak in riddles," Seth professionally noted before getting even stricter. "Renee, we don't. We speak in absolutes," he said as his gimmick was getting the best of him.

"As in," Dean crazily shouted to get everybody's attention, "we will absolutely destroy," he calmed down to continue, "the Wyatt Family at Elimination Chamber."

"Dean, on another topic, there's actually been some talks lately about the fact that you haven't defended your United States Championship in quite some time," Renee focused on Dean but made a brief eye contact with Seth while asking Dean, "do you have a comment on that?"

He switched on his crazy mode and let his character come to life making the best use of gesture and posture as he countered Renee, "So am I supposed to just pull out a United States Championship match and contenders out of thin air, is that what I am supposed to do? You know how this works?" Dean asked Renee what made her feel uncomfortable but he felt confident and natural in this kind of environment. "Do you know how much paper work goes into something like this?" he finished his part and looked at Roman who was calling his name and was about to make Dean's Championship reign a joke.

"What are you talking about, man?" Roman smiled and was glad it was his time to speak again.

On the other hand, Seth, standing in the middle, was being kept out of the conversation so the only thing he could do was to observe and hope people would still notice him reacting to the situation by closing his eyes and making meaningful head movements.

"What kind of champion do you wanna be?" Roman continued while keeping his cool.

Unlike Dean who was losing his temper and saying "I resent that," while pointing a finger at Roman. "Alright? The bottom line is," he continued to make excuses, "there's nobody in this company with the guts," he emphasized, "to try to step up and take this," he said while making sure everybody knew he was talking about his championship belt, "away from me. I'll prove it tonight. I'll put up an open challenge. Tonight," he shouted, "U.S. title on the line." He turned the crazy level down and smoothly continued, "Anybody who wants to step up, I will remind the world," he changed his attitude and spoke loudly again, "that I," he said, then made a pause so that it would give his speech more importance, "…am the Champion," he finished and casually walked away.

His partners watched him, Seth a little confused, Roman smiling, before the scene changed, and the cameras around them went off.

Only after the end of their segment, Roman burst into laughing and Seth joined him soon.

"Nice one, Dean," Seth appreciated his mate's performance. "You almost got me," he joked.

"Yeah, for a second I got scared of myself," he admitted jokingly. "But I really enjoyed the scene. The aftermath…," he sighed, "…not so much fun."

"Come on, man," Roman joined them, "I'm really looking forward to you cowardly trying to escape Mark Henry."

"Why are they trying to make me look like a pussy? I could totally beat that guy up if we were in a real fight," he tried to convince them.

"Yeah, right," Roman just kept laughing at him.

"No, no, wait!" Seth started. "I can totally see you two in a dark alley when nobody's around and you hit him over and over again, add some kicks, old-school style, while he begs you to stop but you, as crazy as you are, enjoy seeing him in pain so you hit him into his stomach before you lift his half-unconscious body and throw it at the fence nearby," Seth made fun of him.

Dean pretended to be offended so he made random mouth movements and played with his hands angrily.

"But don't worry," Roman patted his shoulder. "We've got your back."

"Fuck you, guys," Dean exclaimed.

Then he looked at Renee who was still standing nearby enjoying their little fight and commanded her, "Tell them, Renee, that I would win in a fight with Mark Henry."

She didn't expect him to ask for her support or anything but she knew how to respond even without imagining the fight.

"Of course," she smiled. Then she tried to charm them all by saying "All of you would win. You've got what it takes. You're the Shield and I believe in the Shield," she played her part.

Seth had to smile at her as her words really pleased him. He even let out a little "aww". Then he reached for her hand and pulled her closer to him to hug her.

"That's why you're my favorite interviewer, Renee," he told her.

She looked at Dean who was approvingly looking back at her, but when she turned to see Roman's reaction, he was rather ignorant.

Seth noticed it too. "What's wrong, man?" he asked him. "Don't you appreciate how sweet this little girl is?"

"Nah, I don't care whether she's sweet or not. She's not gonna win me over that easily after what she did."

"What have I done?" she wanted to know as she wasn't aware of anything what might have upset the future main-eventer.

"_What have I done?_" he repeated sarcastically in a girl's voice. "You totally ignored me calling you a babygirl," he reminded her.

"Oh, that's right," Seth realized. "You acted like it was nothing special."

"Yeah. I mean, I gave you some of my best flirting and you blew it off."

"I'm so sorry," she tried to make it up to him. "I guess I was too focused on the next line," she made an excuse so that Roman would forgive her.

"Or," Dean joined the conversation, "you don't have it. I didn't give a fuck about your pick-up line so I don't know what happened there, but I remember me flirting with Renee during one interview few weeks ago and I clearly delivered."

"I don't remember that," Roman said.

"Come on. You have to remember how I called Renee _darling_," he repeated it while looking at her and he could see the exact reaction he hoped to get. "See," he pointed at her while still talking to Roman. "That's how you seduce a woman," he smiled confidently.

"Leave it guys," Seth interrupted them. "Babygirl failed. And darling… not bad, Dean, but wait until it's my turn and then you'll see some first-class flirting," he assured them.

Then he kissed Renee on the top of her head and left. The other two followed him but before being out of Renee's sight she could clearly hear Dean mumbling "I totally won."

But Renee was the only one to know the true reason behind her reception of their pick-up lines. It wasn't that she didn't notice Roman's babygirl part. It just didn't work on her. Roman was handsome and everything, but she didn't have a thing going for him. She also liked Seth but he was more of a brother to her, that's why she supposed she would look ignorant again when he would be the one delivering the line. But Dean … oh, Dean, that was a totally different case.

For some time now, she thought, no, she knew, that his charm was working on her. She didn't know why, but she felt attracted to him. She could say that he had no idea and she wanted it to stay that way. She hoped that it was just some crush and it would go away eventually. But until then she might get into some trouble because of it. It was difficult for her to focus, keep her cool, especially when she was looking right at him. And situations when they were sharing an eye contact were simply unbearable. When he was near her, she just wished to kiss him and she spent some time imagining what it would be like. What it would be like if she told him how she felt and he felt the same. But that situation seemed too dreamy and unrealistic. It was probably best for her to let it go and shut her emotions down. She was a professional after all and she wouldn't allow her feelings get in the way of her career.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter takes place during the last week's Smackdown taping. Enjoy and review :)**

* * *

„And that was when I realized I was fucked. There was no way out of that. I was gonna get hit big time," Dean finished his little story.

"Yeah… Like I'm gonna believe that," Seth responded. "You made that up," he refused to admit that Dean's story was real. He looked at Roman whose eyebrows were lifted in disbelief.

"Why would some bartender want to hit you in the first place?" Roman wondered.

"Because I was hitting on his wife. Did you even listen to me?" he was getting irritated.

"No, I mean," Roman tried to make himself clear, "didn't he know you? Didn't he know what you are capable of? Or even if he didn't know that you are a professional wrestler, he must have seen that you are a big guy."

Dean finally saw the inconsistency of his story. "Well," he tried to convince them anyway, "he was strong too and I guess he was pretty confident in beating other guys up."

"Just admit it's bullshit."

"Maybe it didn't happen that way," Dean admitted under the pressure.

"And maybe it didn't happen at all," Seth nonchalantly uttered.

Dean narrowed his eyes and tried to think of something to make it up. Then he decided to let it go and smiled at them. "Think whatever you want, I don't care. I had sex with her."

"Oh," Roman laughed. "So that's the point of whole story? You got laid? I cannot believe I listened to you instead of going back to the hotel room. I'm outta here," he announced them and shook his head on the way to the locker room to get his stuff.

"So true," Seth added before Roman left. Then he smiled and high-fived Dean. "Nice," he expressed his satisfaction with his partner's success. "But really, what happened?" Seth couldn't hide his interest and curiousness.

"Ok, I'll tell you the true story," Dean started. "So when you and Roman left the bar, I stayed for a while and looked for some amusement."

"I see," Seth followed.

"And I spotted this chick sitting all alone looking all sad and vulnerable," he continued. "I thought she might be an easy target," he confessed happily. "And she wasn't very pretty, either."

"So… you went all Jon Moxley?" Seth guessed being excited about the plot as much as being disgusted by it.

One could suddenly see a wicked look in Dean's eyes as he was ready to give Seth a precise description of what happened that night but before he could continue, he noticed that Renee was walking towards them and he didn't want to her to overhear anything. It was not something what a woman like her should hear.

"Hey, Renee," he welcomed her among them but she didn't notice him at first because she was too focused on the script she was holding in her hands. She could possibly bump into something but so far she succeeded in avoiding objects in front of her.

"Oh, hi," she lifted her head and politely responded.

"You work too hard," Seth told her seeing her preparing for her interview with Randy Orton.

"Come on, it's just an interview. It's not like I'm risking my life in the ring like you, guys," she appreciated their hard work. "By the way, great match."

While she was talking to them, she was only looking at Seth, she didn't want to know what would happen if she even only glanced at Dean.

"It was, wasn't it?" Seth got all enthusiastic. "And that chaos at the very end…" he was raving about their performance in the ring. "You know, Renee," he looked at her, "at the times like this, I wish I could be a spectator."

"You are still a fan rather than a wrestler."

"I really am," he confessed to her. "And I'm such a big fan of the Shield," he placed his hand on his heart and gave her a nostalgic look, "I don't want them to break up."

Then he shared a much understood look with his fellow pal who played his part in the scene perfectly. They placed their hand on each other's shoulder and shared something of a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you," Seth admitted half-joking, half-honest.

"I just can't wait to kick your ass," Dean ended it his way.

Renee was watching them; or rather she was watching only Dean. She forbade herself to distract herself by staring at him but she couldn't help herself, she had to break her promise. And when she realized what she was doing it was too late to stop, she was falling for him.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're here, Renee, otherwise this improvised scene would be just sad," Seth said in hope to hear quite the opposite from her.

But she didn't want to take his side. She knew him well enough so she teased him instead. "You're totally right. It would be pathetic," she told him. "Moreover, you just broke your gimmick. See that camera over there?" she asked him as she pointed at a not-so-well-hidden camera standing few feet away. "It might be recording," she continued, not even trying to persuade him that the apparent lie she made up was true.

"She's right," Dean played along. "You should be more careful about things you say. If people heard you, nobody would believe that you are a heel. It's difficult enough when you pose with your cute little dog all the time."

"I don't," he tried to protest but then let it fade out as it was kind of true.

He was ready to walk away, pissed, but her turned back to him and added, "You know what, Dean? Next time I'll let him bite you!"

As he was passing through the corridor, he stopped at the camera and threw a piece of cloth over it because although he knew they were just joking, he got a bit paranoid.

"Don't you think it was a little harsh?" Renee expressed her worries.

"No. We're always teasing each other like that. I know the boundaries. I wouldn't want to cross any line and really piss him off, because we're sharing a road to the hotel."

"Right," she mumbled and nervously rolled papers in her hands.

"Are you alright?" Dean asked as he noticed her suddenly strange behavior.

"Sure," she responded shortly and thought about a legitimate to reason to leave, but as her interview with Randy didn't start until about ten minutes later, she had nothing. "Ok," she sighed, "see you later."

She didn't even care anymore if it was awkward or suspicious; all she wanted was to be somewhere away from the danger named Dean Ambrose.

He could see that she was nervous but didn't say anything because she evidently was not in a mood to talk about it. He was about to let her go but in the moment that she stepped aside, he opened his mouth and called her, "Renee!"

She immediately turned around, his eyes striking hers as he wished her in a deep sexy voice, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

He was thinking about wishing it to somebody the whole day. Actually, he preferred to tell it to her. And when she was about to leave, he remembered and couldn't resist.

"It's not Valentine's day," she responded surprised but flattered.

He was ready for that reaction. "I know. But since we're taping Smackdown which will air on Valentine's Day, it kind of is."

"That's true," she admitted.

Then she approached him again, still staring into his beautiful eyes. He was smiling at her, forgetting what he wanted to say next.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you, too."

She was charmed by him and totally forgot about reality. She didn't care where she was or what time it was. She wanted to stay in that moment forever. And suddenly she knew that it was more than a crush.

"Renee!" somebody called for at least third time.

It took one more shout for her to turn around and notice what was going on.

"What are you doing here? Your interview with Randy is up in three minutes."

"Oh god!" she exclaimed. "I totally forgot about that."

She quickly scanned through the papers, then ran her hand through her blonde hair and automatically asked, "How do I look?"

The backstage assistant was there to guide her to the place where the interview was taking place but before she left the corridor where she stood with Dean, she could swear she heard a response to her question. She was almost sure she heard him say something. Or did she? Maybe he didn't say anything. Maybe Dean didn't compliment her by saying, "Gorgeous."


	3. Chapter 3

**Once again I'm so glad that Raw provided me with a blueprint for the chapter. It is basically Renee's interview with The Shield from Raw last night with my comments. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and laughed so many times watching the interview over and over again. Seriously, watching it once isn't enough, you miss a lot of hilarious moments. **

**I know there's not much Renee/Dean moments in this chapter but I will continue with this scene in the next chapter (containing "what happened after the interview") which I hope to upload tomorrow or in two days (definitely before Smackdown). **

* * *

Last Monday on Raw, Mark Henry challenged current U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose, one-third of the impactful faction The Shield, for a United States Championship. Dean eventually lost but since it was due to disqualification he was still the champion and it would stay that way at least until the next pay-per-view, The Elimination Chamber. Mark Henry didn't leave the ring that night as a winner since he was attacked by Seth Rollins and finally speared by the muscle of The Shield, Roman Reigns.

This was reminded to the viewers in a short video summary of the match with a not-so-important result. It was more to show people that Roman Reigns was really on his way to stardom, and with his memorable finisher, hunter-like look and wrestling-family background he got all it took to become a champion. Nobody doubted that, everybody already knew what plans had the management prepared for him. Today he was booked to have a match against Mark Henry and it was more that certain that he would walk out of the ring as a winner.

In reality, Mark Henry match only served as a relevant reason for Roman and Dean to have a little "exchange of opinions" in an interview and that it would continue to prepare fans for the inevitable split of The Shield, a group that would tomorrow be one year and three months old. The end of them was coming; it was only question of days or weeks. Nevertheless, before that would happen, there were still few matches that needed them to be a team, especially highly anticipated match with The Wyatt Family this Sunday at the Elimination Chamber.

It became a tradition for Renee Young to interview The Shield during either Monday Night Raw or Friday Night Smackdown. There was enough chemistry in those segments, people really enjoyed it and they could never know what would happen, especially when the mouth of the faction, Dean Ambrose, spoke up. There were some expectable moments though, Roman and Dean getting above each other and make the tension rise, Seth being a peace-maker between those two, and finally hearing "Believe in the Shield" and seeing their fists in unison.

When Renee's pretty face appeared on the screen, she said the one phrase she always used, in some variations, "Ladies and gentleman, please welcome my guests joining me now, The Shield." It was not necessary to introduce them since everybody already knew she would interview the group of three dangerous men, all dressed in black.

When they approached her, she first briefly looked up at Dean who was coming from her left side, knowing it was time for her to shut her confusion with her feelings towards him down. She looked away and then she focused on Roman who would be the first to answer her questions.

"Roman, tonight you're going one-on-one with the world strongest man, Mark Henry," she opened the segment. "This is a man…" she continued when she was rudely interrupted by Dean, standing behind her, who was until now more focused on his own fingernails than Renee's words.

"Mark Henry?" he repeated in amazement.

Renee turned to face Dean and placed microphone next to him.

"I'm surprised he even showed up tonight after the beating I gave him last week." Dean had an aura of confidence spreading around him as he spoke and regularly switched looking at Roman and Renee.

Roman and Seth started smiling sarcastically and Roman countered, "Dean, what are you talking about, man? You lost," he reminded him the fact that Dean was evidently forgetting.

Dean dedicated Roman an intimidating look as he tried to defend his truth. "Look, Mark Henry's no walk in a park. I softened him up a little bit for ya." Dean employed his hands and he frequently used to. On the other hand, his partners always seemed to prefer just one spot for their hands, Roman on his belt and Seth often switched between resting one on his chest and letting them both hang freely. Nothing too adventurous. "But you'll find that out tonight," Dean continued. "But I guess you think you can do better." His arms were spread as if they were wings and he was an eagle ready to take off.

"I know I can," Roman corrected him keeping his serious look on. Unlike Dean who presented a little explosion of disbelief.

Meanwhile, Seth was quiet, as usually, but he was having fun of his own. He watched Dean and Roman's fight and it seemed like he totally forgot that this was just a part of their job. He got so hung up on those two and enjoyed every word they said, every movement they made, as if he was a spectator at the National Theater. For a moment it seemed like he had a crush on them and in that case, Renee was handling hers better than him. Or, actually no, not really. Both Renee and Seth were caught up on them and kind of acted like twins with their almost-synchronized admiration and head movements.

Before it could get ugly, Renee interrupted them. "Don't you think that the three of you all need to get on the same page before your huge six-man tag match…"

Once again, she was interrupted, but this time it was by Seth, who finally woke up from his "fascination sleep" and took part in the interview.

"Renee, Renee," he addressed her repeatedly, "I appreciate what you're trying to do here, I really do." He breathed in to continue, "But you gotta understand, we are always on the same page," he tried to convince her as Roman nodded to help. "And as for the Wyatts at Elimination Chamber, The Shield was born and bred for war." He made a pause so that people could absorb what he just said. "That will never change, sweetheart."

It was finally his time to refer to Renee by using a word of endearment and he hoped it would work out and be received well. But once again, Renee sort of ignored his try. In some way, it was even worse than with Roman. Maybe it was really because she got interested in the conversation between Roman and Dean and poor Seth just chose bad time for his "sweetheart". Also, she expected him to use the phrase soon so it was no surprise when he did. And thirdly, and most importantly, he was Seth, he was kind of guy who she liked but never thought of him as something more than a friend. One could consider him friendzoned but he wasn't interested in Renee either, he had a girlfriend, so it worked for them. "Sweetheart" was just something he used for the audience and for his fans. He was sure that his female fanbase would be more than glad to hear him say a word like that.

"Bray Wyatt?" Dean spoke up again. "His little family? They're an illusion." One could see that he was in his crazy mode once more and shifted his balance point from side to side. "Their mindgames don't work on us because The Shield," he shouted, "is real."

Renee kept staring into Dean's eyes for more time than it was necessary and when she was to move the microphone in front of Roman, she found herself still gazing there. Well, so what… Seth did the exact same thing with Roman.

"We don't experience fear," Roman continued. He was an absolute opposite of Dean. He kept still and calm. His voice was steady, eyes focused. "And we don't back down," he finished the sentence. Then he looked into the camera to say their catchphrase. "Believe that. And believe in The Shield." He kept an eye contact with whoever was watching the segment to make them believe but they already did. From the time The Shield debuted and started functioning as a most devastating wrestling faction in modern day, through their multiple victories and manifestations of their raw power and violent behavior, everybody watching WWE had to realize that The Shield was real and to be believed in.

To end the segment, Renee moved aside to let all three members of The Shield, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, stand side by side. Then they joined their fists in the gesture more powerful that all the words. It was to let people know that no matter what, they still are a team and they are ready to destroy anybody to prove The Shield is and always will be the best, the strongest and the most impactful faction that exists.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry I did not upload it earlier but honestly I'm glad I even wrote this chapter because I had literally no ideas. Hopefully next chapter will be more thought-out. **

**As I wrote in the last chapter, this one starts where the previous ended.**

* * *

„Okay," Seth said after they shot the segment. He sighed, smiled although he was not amused. In reality, he was rather amazed. „I've got no idea what happened there," he expressed his confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Roman wondered with his hand going through his long black hair. Not showing any real interest he placed his hand on his neck to massage it. He got enough time to move it to either side before Seth finally decided to respond.

But first he looked at Renee who already knew she screwed up. Again. "Do you ignore us on purpose?" he asked her, not being really mad though, just curious.

"No. I…," she tried to find the right words instead of saying first thing that would come to her mind. "I don't know why I did it.

"Or, more like didn't do it," Seth corrected her.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized but she would prefer to disappear and avoid talking about it.

"Seriously," Seth continued, "there's gotta be a reason. And it cannot be my poor delivery because you did the same thing to Roman last week. We cannot both suck."

"Yeah," Roman agreed with his teammate. "And don't say it's just your professionalism because in that case you put your values aside when you reacted to Dean on Smackdown a couple of weeks ago," he stated what brought Dean to the conversation.

"Well," he said confidently, "I guess she likes me more."

At the moment Renee hated Dean for two reasons. Firstly, for the arrogant way Dean pronounced it, and secondly, because it was true. But that was something Renee couldn't admit because she didn't want anybody, and especially not Dean, to know.

"That's bullshit," Roman shouted in Dean's face.

Seth reacted differently. He kept quiet and couldn't put that thought away. It seemed to him that it would be a legitimate reason for Renee's reaction. There were other options to explain it but there was something about her liking him more.

"It's true," Dean opposed. "The way I see it, I'm her favorite member of The Shield, deal with it," he told them and to make them believe in his "special" powers, he placed his arm on Renee's shoulder and pulled her towards him.

Renee was feeling very uncomfortable; this time she didn't even enjoy being so close to the person she had feelings for. He made it look like he owned her and, in some way, he certainly did but that was something Dean was not aware of. His only goal was to prove his colleagues that he was better at flirting than they were. There could be an explanation to it. Since Dean was not in a serious relationship, when he wanted to hook up with some chick, he had to charm her first. And after all the years of trying, failing, and defining the best plan to get a girl to sleep with him, now he was sort of an expert in the field of seduction.

He didn't need to explain facts to Seth and Roman, he didn't want them to realize relevant reasons for his success and their fails, the only important thing was that he was the only one who triumphed in this little competitive game.

"And once again, I am the master. Right, darling?" The way he put it, he sounded like he was in his character and forgot he was not on TV anymore. He sounded like an asshole type of guy. He usually wasn't like that but when he realized he won, his jerk side got the better of him. He treated her like his property, like a trophy he won.

But Renee wouldn't leave it like that. She showed all of them that Dean didn't really win her and pushed first his arm and then him away, looking all disgusted by his selfish behavior.

"Don't worry, Dean, next time I'll ignore you too," she said squeezing his ego and showing her powerful side. One thing that she wouldn't let him see was that he hurt her.

He was surprised by her saying that, but he didn't let that show in a real way, rather as an act which he would normally use in a promo.

"See, Dean," Roman addressed his words to the man standing in front of him," you went too far. Now you scared her," he joked.

At that point, Renee was fully aware of their heights and felt intimidated by it. She started to feel like a pet they were playing with.

"Leave her alone, guys," Seth suddenly spoke up after a long moment of contemplating.

"Sorry, Renee," Roman apologized to her immediately, unlike Dean who didn't feel like apologizing even though he knew he was the one that should. He played with her like a cat with a mouse and he knew he made her uncomfortable on more than one occasion during past few minutes.

"Dean?" Seth turned to him to get him say sorry as well.

When he still didn't say anything, Roman looked at him too, very seriously, to make him realize that the fun was over and that he should man up, swallow his pride and do the right thing.

"That's alright," Renee interrupted as she knew Seth and Roman's afford was useless.

"Dean," Roman whispered to him in a persuasive voice and gave him one last chance to act adequately to his age.

Instead, he just nervously bit his lip. Then he turned around and left.

"What the hell was that?" Roman asked Seth but he just shrugged his shoulders in disbelief of what all of them just witnessed.

"I don't know, man. That was weird even for him."

"He crossed the line. He went too far."

"Guys, guys!" Renee tried to make them listen to her. "It's okay. Nothing happened. Just leave it."

"No," Roman refused. "He cannot act that way. I'm gonna talk to him," he informed them and then followed Dean into the locker room.

"Well, we can be sure that Dean won't explain his behavior," Seth told Renee. "But now that we're alone, maybe you can explain me yours."

Renee got even more uncomfortable than before. Did Seth suspect something? It seemed so. But how could he know?

"I told you I was focused on the interview. When I realized what you said, it was too late to give you a proper reaction," she lied to him.

"Renee," he made her look him in the eye, "tell me, was Dean right?" he requested a direct answer.

She was about to say that she had no idea what he was talking about but that would only make it worse for her. He would immediately know that was another lie. She couldn't stay quiet either, she had to say something. There were many sentences she could say on her mind but none of them was good enough. She had to come up with something clever, preferably distracting. She looked around for some inspiration but Seth quickly noticed he was in charge.

"Okay. Just answer this question. Is there a particular reason why you reacted differently to Dean than to Roman and me?"

Renee had no choice but to confirm it by nodding silently.

Although Seth expected his suspicion to turn out to be true, now that she admitted to him than he was right, he was surprised. He was imagining Renee with Dean. He was confused but also curious. He wondered how that would work out for them.

"Are you in…"

Renee had to interrupt him before he could finish that sentence. "No!" she shouted but quietly so that nobody except for Seth could hear it. "I'm not _in love_," she said as if it was something bad or forbidden, "with him."

"But you like him, don't you?" he asked all happy about the news.

"Yes," she admitted but then added, "but I also like you. And Roman. And many other people."

"You know what I mean…" Seth smiled at her.

"It's just a crush, ok?" she tried to convince him as well as herself. "It'll go away."

Before Seth could pose her another question which she didn't want to hear or answer, Summer Rae came to them to talk to Renee. For once, Renee was glad she didn't have to talk to Seth anymore. She really liked him but now he knew too much and he became a person she would avoid, if she could.

"Hey, Summer, what's up?" he welcomed her. Then he looked at Renee one more time. "We'll get back to it later," he smiled as if it was something pleasant. Well, it was for him. Renee, on the other hand, hated that he knew the truth. It meant that she could not pretend everything was normal and her feelings for Dean didn't exist.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, so I wrote another chapter today. That was fast :) That's how it ends when you're reading something and realize you're thinking about something else so you start writing.**

**Also, I was not happy with Dean's behavior in the last chapter so I (he) tried to make it up in this one. It takes place after Raw (yes, it's the third chapter about that Raw). No Seth and Roman this time.**

**Favorite/Follow/Review :) I'll be thankful for any opinion. **

* * *

When all Superstars, who in an instance filled the ring and started fighting each other as a little preview for the Elimination Chamber on Sunday, abandoned the ring after the Monday Night Raw was over, everybody headed to their locker rooms to change and leave the arena. Actually many of them planned to go to the bar afterwards to get some drinks and talk about big events that were going to take place soon, such as the Elimination Chamber, start of the WWE Network which was scheduled on Monday, and most importantly, WrestleMania XXX. There were important matches ahead of them and they were really looking forward to them, as much as fans who seemed to be excited about the upcoming pay-per-view. After all, this one would probably be a lot better than the Royal Rumble in January. With at least two much anticipated matches, the match between The Wyatt Family and The Shield and then the Elimination Chamber match, there was really something to look forward to.

Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were changing and talking about both their today on-screen appearances and their Sunday match, but their partner, Dean Ambrose was nowhere in sight. It seemed that they didn't notice, though. After all, they were not alone in the locker room and it often happened that they "lost" one of them. But this time, even if they looked around in attempt to find him, they would not succeed. He was not in there.

Right after the lights went off, Dean, still in his ring gear, headed somewhere else. He had some business to do and he wouldn't feel satisfied until he fixed something. That was why he walked all the way through the hall until he finally reached the women's, or Divas', locker room. He knocked on the door and waited. It didn't take long because one of the Divas was right beside the door when she heard the gentle, maybe even unsure, knocking. When the door opened, the first girl he saw was Emma, with a towel around her waist. He could say that she was surprised and found it very awkward that she allowed him to see her not dressed properly.

"Oh, hey, Dean," she started talking but it didn't make the situation less unpleasant.

"Hi, Emma," he responded kindly and tried to make her feel like there was nothing to be ashamed of. She was new here so she didn't experience this kind of situation before but he did. It happened a lot of times to him, but he was always thankful for moments when he could make a girl uncomfortable without even trying.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asked when Dean totally forgot to explain why he came there because he got distracted by insufficiently-dressed lady standing in front of him. Dean even smiled what made it even worse, and with their height difference, Emma got scared a little when she imagined the worst scenario that could happen.

"I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable," Dean apologized when he noticed her frightened look. "Is Renee in there?" he asked with hope in his voice.

"Yes, she is," Emma answered quickly and welcomed the opportunity to disappear and let somebody else face him.

She closed the door first so Dean leaned against the wall next to the door and waited for Renee to come out. Meanwhile he took off the black tape around his forearms and put it into his pockets.

When he heard the door opening he looked to his left to see Renee standing in front of him, not looking particularly happy to see him.

"Renee, I want to apologize for my earlier behavior," he started but he sounded too serious, it didn't sound personal at all.

Renee thought the same and her angry face indicated him that he should try again.

"Let me put it this way. I'm so sorry that I was such a jerk before. I seriously don't know what happened."

"Alright," Renee responded but he felt she didn't forgive him and that she was still mad at him.

"Renee," he spoke as he decided to grab her hand, doing it so fast and unexpectedly that she didn't even notice until it was too late to prevent it, and he hold it. "I should have…," he stopped because he didn't know how to continue.

Fortunately for him, Renee saw that he was really trying to make it right and realized she should help him because he got lost somewhere in his apology.

"I forgive you for a being a jerk," she joked and smiled at him what immediately made him feel better.

He smiled at her too and couldn't stop thinking about how sweet she was. Verve was filling his body and his mind. He took her other hand as well, and placed it next to the other one so that he could hold them both together. Looking into her eyes he suddenly felt this strange need to be close to her, to never let go of her. That was new, he never felt that way before. It was uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time.

Suddenly he let go of her hands and stepped backwards.

"Are you ok?" Renee worried when she noticed how differently he acted. His face expression changed in an instance.

"Mhm," he responded but he wasn't very convincing. He hesitated when he was to decide what to do next. He felt like it would be best to leave but he also really wanted to stay. He was scared by his feelings. He felt shivers running through his body as his legs got weak.

"Dean?" Renee spoke to him.

Dean looked down at her and when his sight locked on her eyes, that calmness in them passed on to him. He found support in them and doubts left his mind.

"Thank you," he sighed.

"You're welcome," she responded politely although she had no idea what she did that he could be thankful for. Well, except for forgiving him but that didn't seem to be the reason.

"Do you know that you've got magical powers?" he asked and he sounded enchanted. Indeed, he was enchanted by her, but that was something she didn't know.

"I do?" she asked not realizing that she was just complimented.

"Oh yes, you do. You are like an angel who was sent to me from heaven."

After hearing that, she started blushing so she looked away. But Dean found her. He placed his hand under her chin and softly moved her head towards him.

"You really are my darling," he realized and knew it needed to be said out loud. He couldn't stop smiling at her, what made her really happy but the tension made her breath heavily and this time she was the one with weak legs.

And it got much harder for her to keep her cool when he gently took her hand into his and softly kissed it.

Then he let go of her hand, stroked her cheek while keeping an eye contact with her, and finally, he left.


	6. Chapter 6

**I've decided to write a little something before the EC starts. Good luck to The Shield! The next chapter will be probably posted in two days. **

**Also, I plan to write another story about The Shield called _We Will Stand United_, but I need to see what happens with The Shield at the Elimination Chamber first. Stay tuned :)**

* * *

It was the night of the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view and only few hours were left before the big start. Superstars and Divas were leaving the hotel and getting into the Target Center in Minneapolis where the show was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET but, as always, there was a pre-show, this time it was The Brotherhood against Rybaxel. It was definitely not the match that everybody was looking forward to. There were other matches that were supposed to be great and fulfill everybody's high expectations, like certain two matches both of which had six participants.

Before they left for the huge show, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns sat down on the leather sofa in the hotel lobby to wait for their crazy Shield co-member who was always late. They started talking about the upcoming match with the Wyatt Family to avoid getting bored by waiting which could easily take more than ten minutes. They probably should have just knocked on Dean's door to make him leave the room already, but they didn't realize that it was the best way to get him out of the hotel room until they came down to the lobby and then they were just too lazy to go up again and then all the way to Dean's room to get to him. So instead they just kept waiting and waiting.

Other superstars were walking by on their way to the place where the Elimination Chamber was taking place. Some seemed to be relaxed; others listened to music in order to loosen up. Seth and Roman were calm enough; they were actually feeling really enthusiastic about their match and the whole show. They knew very well that it was one of the last moments with them still being a team so they tried to enjoy it as much as they could.

When they saw their WWE colleagues, they said hey to them or did some small talk if anything at all. They were spending with them most of their time so there wasn't much to talk about. It all changed when Renee Young made her way across the hall and being accompanied by fellow Canadian, Christian, she approached the hotel exit before being stopped by Seth calling her name. Noticing her trying to avoid him, he lifted himself up from the comfortable sofa and headed towards Renee.

"Can I have a word with you, Renee?" he asked her politely.

Christian didn't care much, he simply continued walking outside, leaving the two of them alone.

Renee sighed when she realized there was no way out of the inevitable conversation which would sooner or later happen anyway. She was naïve to believe that Seth would forget about what she told him earlier that week.

"Alright," she said unwillingly.

Then she followed Seth who moved closer to the hallway to get distance from Roman. He understood that Roman was not supposed to know about Renee's feelings for their mate. When he stopped walking, thinking that he found the ideal spot for their chat, he turned to Renee and looked into her unhappy eyes. He was well aware of the fact that Renee preferred if the upcoming conversation never happened but he couldn't let it go. He cared for both Renee and Dean so he wanted to know what was going on between them.

"No more escaping," he advised her.

"But we need to get to the arena," she tried to get a rid of him. Unsuccessfully.

"We've got enough time," he opposed. "Moreover, I couldn't focus if I didn't know what's happening with you two. Do you want me to ruin the match because of thinking about your secrets?" he tried to make her feel guilty for not wanting to tell him.

"Well, no," she started. "But we both know that my secrets will be the last think you'll be thinking about when you'll be facing Bray Wyatt. And…," she continued. "It's just one secret," she corrected him while looking around to make sure that nobody was close enough to hear them. "And it's not even a secret anymore, since you know it." She turned her offence mode on but two could play that game.

"So does Dean know?" he asked mockingly. "Can I talk to him about you having feelings for him?"

"No!" she shouted. A little too loud, she realized immediately. She lowered her voice and continued, "You know I cannot tell him."

"Why not?" he sincerely did not understand. Seth gently looked at her and tried to make her see the right direction which she should take. "What's the point of torturing yourself with keeping it to yourself only and hoping something would happen on his own initiative?"

"See, that's the thing. I don't want anything to happen. I don't want things to change between us. We're friends. That's the way it should be," she kept explaining but she wasn't convinced by her words, so neither could be Seth.

"Renee, are you listening to yourself?" he chuckled. "That's the way it _should_ be?" he repeated her own sentence. "Why? Who sets the rules? Just look around," he said and pointed his arm to the direction where he hoped to see other wrestlers but at the moment there was nobody, so he just put his arm down again, lifted his eyebrows in disbelief but let it go to continue. "I mean, there are plenty of Superstars and Divas having off-screen relationship and it works for them. It's even convenient because they can spend more time together and they do the same job as their partner so they can understand each other."

"But I'm not a Diva," she countered looking down at the floor. "I don't wrestle, I'm just an interviewer. I don't have the same job as him, so there's only time advantage left which is more of a disadvantage, when you really think about it, since it can get annoying spending so much time with your lover," she acted as if she was only looking for reasons why her relationship with Dean should not happen.

"Renee, Renee…" he kept calling her name since she wouldn't listen to him. He placed his arms on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Firstly, you are a Diva. You're as good as any wrestler, and you know as much about wrestling as any professional, don't underestimate yourself. And secondly, you know you want it, so stop looking for excuses and tell him what you feel," he told her.

At the exact same moment, Dean walked out of the hallway behind the corner that they were standing at and before Renee could see him, he placed his hand on her back what totally freaked her out, since Seth didn't give her any signal that Dean was suddenly standing behind her.

Seth went quiet as Renee turned around to see Dean's happy face, which was in opposition to Seth and Renee's scared blank faces. They were sure he heard them.

"Yeah, I agree with Seth, you should tell him," Dean gladly contributed with his opinion to what was now a dead conversation. But as soon as he looked at Renee, his smile disappeared. "Renee, are you ok?" he asked when he saw how pale she was. He took her hand and placed his fingers on the vein on her forearm, close to her wrist, to feel her heartbeat which was really fast. He supposed he scared her, what he did, just in a way he wouldn't understand. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to frighten you. He caressed her blonde hair and smiled at her to make it up to her.

Renee was still speechless so Seth took the initiative and tried to save her. "Next time whistle before touching somebody who doesn't see you," Seth advised him.

That made Dean think of Luke Harper whistling in The Wyatt Family promo and that idea didn't convince him them whistling was a way to go. It could be pretty spooky as well. It definitely wasn't something that would calm one down.

"Ok, we should really go now," Seth continued after he looked at the time. "What took you so long anyway?" he changed the topic and started walking towards Roman to leave Renee alone. She wasn't in mood to handle Dean asking her questions.

"Oh, I was on the phone," he replied.

Before Seth could ask him with whom, they reached Roman who stood up when he saw them approaching him. He put his headphones down and smiled at them, forgetting to be mad at them for taking their time.

"Hey, guys, I was browsing the music on my phone and you wouldn't believe what I found. Check this out!" he told them looking all enthusiastic.

He pressed play and the song "Who Let the Dogs out?" started to play. Seth and Dean burst into laughing hearing the song they haven't heard in years. But it was appropriate. The Hounds of Justice were about to be let out to tear their opponents apart.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry guys for shorter and weaker chapter but I'm feeling terrible, I just really wanted to upload before Raw.**

* * *

Roman and Seth finally made their way into the backstage after their huge match with The Wyatt Family. They eventually lost, but the effort they put into that match could not be taken away from them. Even though the result was predetermined, all three members of The Shield made sure that the spectators would not see it as their loss but rather as an awesome match that it was. The facts that were to be remembered were that both The Wyatt Family and The Shield put up great performances and there were no weak moments to be found, The Shield was left devastated by The Wyatts when Bray Wyatt executed Sister Abigail on Roman Reigns, Seth went through the Spanish announce table and didn't move since he hit the floor hard until the match was over, and… the last member of the epic faction which, unfortunately, didn't get to serve justice on the night of the Elimination Chamber, well, Dean Ambrose went missing.

The two guys made their way into the locker room to get some rest since they were really tired and exhausted after all those hits, jumps, falls, punches that they had given and received earlier. Before they got to have some time alone by themselves, they were complimented by other wrestlers who were watching them and applauded their ability to put up such incredible match that even overshadowed the main event, the Elimination Chamber match.

"What the hell, guys! That was fucking awesome," The Miz stormed into the locker room and shouted at them.

Seth was lying on the floor with the wet towel thrown over his face and felt like staying in that position for at least a couple of hours. He had enough of physical activity for one night. He seriously needed a break, or he could collapse.

Roman was feeling a little better, well he didn't have to perform all those high flights, and he didn't end up lying on the table. He was awarded the comfort of the ring. Therefore he just drank some water and when he saw the enthusiastic face of The Miz, he joined him in celebration of their, well, loss, but that wasn't something they could influence and change.

"Anyway, I'm gonna take a shower now," Roman announced them.

Seth with difficulty lifted his hand to wave at him in sense of whatever, and then let it fall freely on his own face, still covered with that white towel, full of water and sweat.

"Are you alright, man?" Miz worried when he saw Seth's almost lifeless body lying carelessly in front of him.

"I'll be fine," he mumbled and made it difficult for Miz to understand.

Then he heard a knock on the door but he definitely wasn't going to stand up and go there to see who was outside.

"Could you get that?" he asked Miz instead.

"Sure," he replied and opened the door for Renee to walk in.

"Who is it?" Seth wanted to know as he wasn't even willing to turn his head to see on his own.

"It's me. Renee," she let him know. "I just wanted to say that it was a great match."

"Well, you're not the first one to say that," Miz informed her. "But if you expect to get some reception of your compliment, you should go to Wyatts instead. Seth's not in the mood to respond. Or," he remembered, "you can go compliment Roman. He'll be glad." Miz smiled viciously. "He's right there in the showers." He pointed in the direction of the bathroom jokingly, but Renee didn't find it funny. "This is a dead place," he concluded. "I'm outta here."

He closed the door, leaving Seth and Renee alone. Renee got down on her knees so that she would be closer to Seth.

"Are you ok?" she asked and courageously lifted the towel from his face, making him look at her.

"I guess," he didn't even try to convince her.

"Should I call somebody?"

"No," he refused and finally sat up. "That's really not necessary. I just need some time to sober up from that match."

"Should I leave you alone?"

"Nah," he replied. "I'd like to have some company."

"Alright then… Hey," she said as she looked around the locker room and found it strange that it was empty. "Where's Dean?" She tried to make her question sound leisurely but it didn't work out for her the way she planned it.

"Oh, I see," Seth suddenly seemed interested in the conversation. "So that's why you came here in the first place," he supposed.

"No… maybe," she admitted. "What happened to him? Where did he go?"

"Don't worry, sweetheart, he's alright. It's not real, you know," he reminded her. "I suppose he can come here anytime soon."

"I'm not worrying about him."

Once again, Dean found the perfect time for his entrance. Renee couldn't believe that it happened again.

"Worrying about who?" Dean insisted on knowing as he walked by her and his mate, who was once more lying back on the floor. "What are you doing, man?" he uttered mockingly to Seth's face.

To avoid Dean discussing Seth's weird position, he nonchalantly switched topic back to Renee.

"She was actually worrying about you after you left the ring with Bray and became never-to-be-seen-again."

"That's not true…" Renee tried to convince them. "I was worried about all of you," she added when she saw that nobody would believe her.

"Really? That's so sweet," Dean reacted the way nobody expected him to. "Next time you'll be the first one I'll come to after the match to let you see that I'm alive," he said jokingly but Renee somehow wished that he would mean it.

When Dean noticed that Renee wasn't amused by his joke, he added, "Seriously, everything's fine. I'm used to worse," he reminded her that he spent years in the Indies, so matches like this one were really nothing.

He gently smiled at her and she smiled back. That was when Roman got out of the shower and noticed new people in the room.

"You know, I was thinking that it would nice if there was a woman around when I was in the shower, and now there's one," Roman said.

"Dude!" Dean sighed.

"What? That was a compliment."

"Yeah, I really don't see how that's a compliment," Renee told him. "So I'm just gonna go. See you guys later."

When she was gone, Roman turned to Seth. "Seriously, get up!" Roman commanded Seth who unhappily did so. It was time to get back to normal. The match was over and Raw was coming.


	8. Chapter 8

**Renee tries to move on believing Dean thinks about her only as a friend but Seth's there to prove her she might be wrong.**

* * *

After Seth spent a couple of hours with Roman watching some college football, he was tired and it was getting late too. Therefore he decided he should go back to his room and even though he knew he wouldn't try to fall asleep immediately, he liked the idea of him lying on the soft bed covered with warm blanket. But when Seth opened the door to get into what was his and also Dean's hotel room, he was surprised by the view. He straight away forgot about how exhausted he was and couldn't help by smile.

Dean was sitting on the bed with Renee sitting opposite him, both with crossed legs and they seemed to be playing some card game. They looked happy and focused so at first they didn't even notice Seth walking in.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked softly.

Dean and Renee turned their heads to see the newcomer.

"Nope," Dean uttered.

"Dean and I were just playing poker," Renee explained him.

"Actually it's called heads up poker when there are only two people," Dean corrected her.

Renee looked at him the way that made him doubt his dominance, and she showed that she was doing her best but she couldn't remember everything.

"Oh, I didn't know you could play poker, Renee," Seth said.

"It's heads up poker," she tried to prove them her ability to learn quickly.

"In this case it's okay to say just poker, darling," Dean laughed and gently stroked her knee what gave her shivers.

Unlike Dean, Seth noticed that and wondered if something happened between those two earlier.

"As you see, I'm just learning. Dean was teaching me."

"And you're doing really well," he complimented her. "But you should practice more."

"I believe Divas don't play poker, do they? So you probably couldn't play with them," Seth entered the conversation again. "But remember, Renee, you can always come to us. Right, Dean?" He looked at him and then at Renee to make sure she saw what he was doing.

"Of course, anytime. Our door is always open. Or," he stopped when he realized he could not mean it literally, "we will always open it for you," he added jokingly.

"Thanks, guys. But I'll think this was enough poker for at least a week. I'm gonna take off, I guess you want to go to bed, Seth," she uncrossed her legs and stood up. Then she stretched a little because she was in the same position for quite some time and felt stiff. When she was about to walk towards the door, Dean reached for her hand and took it. Then he used it to pull her closer to him so that he could hug her goodbye while still sitting on his bed.

"Goodnight," he whispered into her ear and that gentle behavior towards Renee confused poor Seth even more. He was dying to find out what was going on.

"Bye, Renee," Seth smiled at her, still in an amazement.

When the door closed, Dean stood up but even though Seth was craving to ask Dean certain questions, he didn't. If nothing happened between him and Renee, that conversation could get awkward. Fortunately for him, Dean decided to take a shower right after Renee left. So when Dean headed for the bathroom, Seth didn't take his time, he quickly abandoned the room and ran after Renee who was walking in the direction of the elevators. Seth reached her just before she could enter one to get on the floor where her room was located.

"Renee," he called after her.

She turned around to see him breathing loudly, even though he was in top condition and the short distance he had to run could not tire him.

"Seth," she sighed. "Did I forget something in your room?" she wondered as she checked the stuff she was holding in her hands and thinking if it was everything. But she was sure that she didn't bring with her nothing more than a green sweater, card into her room and her phone.

"No, I don't think so," Seth replied. "I just needed to know if you two got intimate prior to my arrival or not." He did not consider that sentence inappropriate at all.

"Oh," she gasped.

"So?" Seth wouldn't let it go even when he could see she would prefer not talking about it. As always.

"No," she told him. "Actually," she decided to tell him more, "I gave it some thinking and realized that the best thing to do would be not to do anything."

"I don't understand."

"You see, I'm trying to convince myself that I don't really want to be with him and that it's not something that I need to do."

"You are going to fail. Big time," Seth announced her.

"Maybe. But maybe not," she opposed.

"Ok," he said but didn't really believe that it was a good idea. "How do you plan to accomplish it anyway?"

"Well, to start with, I have a date tomorrow."

Renee expected Seth's surprised look that followed her revelation. He couldn't believe his ears. She has evidently been interested in his teammate, he could clearly see that she wanted to get together with him and suddenly, she believed that the best solution for her problems was not talking to Dean about her feelings for him but instead throwing them out the window and looking for somebody new to fill Dean's place. Seth felt kind of sorry for that person who was certainly a rebound guy.

"You cannot do that," Seth exclaimed.

"Why not?" she asked him. "I'm not in a relationship with Dean, he's not in love with me and I deserve to be happy, don't I?"

"Well, yeah…" he tried to find a way to counter her argument. "Yes, of course you do, but you don't know for sure that Dean's not in love with you. He might feel the same as you do for all you know. I mean, you know what I saw when I entered that room?" he posed her a question which he didn't wait for an answer to. "I saw two people who cared about each other, enjoying the time they were spending together, having fun. But it wasn't the same as what you see when you look at two friends. It was different. There was more. At that moment, I thought, I was almost sure, that something happened between you two. I don't know, maybe you cuddled, maybe you kissed. There was evidently tension and I could say that both of you wanted to stop whatever you were doing and get all over each other."

Renee listened to Seth carefully and wondered if it was true. When she was next to Dean, she did feel that way, she wanted to touch him. But she couldn't tell what was going on Dean's mind. Was he thinking the same or did he see it as two friends bonding, having a good time playing poker?

Renee swallowed loudly. Her good mood was gone. She understood that she couldn't spend time with Dean and pretend everything was the way it should be. She wanted him. She wished she knew what he felt but she was too scared to start that conversation. It was bad enough when she was talking to Seth about it, and it would be ten times worse when it would be Dean standing in front of her.

"I should tell him, shouldn't I?" Renee asked. Seth nodded and then hugged her to comfort her and make her feel better. She rested her head on his chest and he caressed her soft long hair. They stayed in that motionless position for a couple of minutes before they parted and went their separate ways.

Seth returned to his room and quickly fell asleep while Renee spent most of the night trying to figure out what to do next. She had to talk to Dean and it was something she did not look forward too. She decided she would do it eventually though, just not yet.


	9. Chapter 9

**Do you remember how in the last chapter Renee revealed to Seth that she was going on a date with some guy? Well, that date happened after all. Let's see how it goes.**

* * *

Renee was sitting in her room, alone. She had some free time before heading to work but she couldn't think of anything better to do than desperately staring outside the window, watching the raindrops fall on the ground. She felt a little depressed, partly because of the weather, partly because of her confusion. She was lonely but didn't want to see anybody. Her head gently touched the wall to her right and her eyes closed. Her body started shaking; she was apparently cold but didn't do anything about it. Instead she grabbed her phone to make a call.

She was thinking about the date she was supposed to have tonight. She was having some serious second thoughts and decided to call it off. What would be the point of having a dinner with him when she was not interested in him at all? The only reason she was doing it was Dean. She wanted to forget about him, she wanted to convince herself that it was a very bad idea falling for him and she needed to stop thinking about him. When she was considering her reason for the date again, it seemed legitimate. She saw the point of meeting the guy. For all she knew, he might be the love of her love. He probably wasn't but she could give it a try. If it didn't work out, she can always decide not to see him again.

With Dean it was totally different. It they had a fling or something and things didn't work out for them, she could not stop seeing him. They were working together. Wasn't there a rule saying you shouldn't date people you work with? She didn't want to risk that. On one hand, she really wanted to give it a try, but on the other hand, it was too dangerous. They were friends now. One stupid desire could ruin that. There was no going back from crossing that barrier between friendship and love. Love was too destructive to let play with.

She put the phone down. She decided she would go on a date with the person she has never met before. It could be fun after all. It could be something that would stop her mind from permanent thinking about man who reserved himself a special place in her heart. Renee wanted to believe that there was still a way out of it.

When she met Adam, she seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He welcome her with a kiss on her cheek, he brought her a bunch of flowers and took her to a fancy restaurant. It was not that he was short or not muscular at all, but when she was surrounded by wrestlers, she lost the ability to appreciate regular built. He was still attractive though. He had beautiful eyes, lovely smile and everything, but Renee was not interested in him. There was only one person who she could picture being with and that person definitely wasn't the guy who was sitting in front of her at the moment.

He tried to do his best to make her smile and laugh, he really wished the date would end the best way possible but he could not help but notice her mind was somewhere else.

"Renee," he said softly to grab her attention. He even dared to touch her hand resting on the table.

She immediately moved her hand away. The gesture might have been a little too harsh. She looked at him apologizing.

"Is something wrong?" he worried.

She sighed and breathed in and out deeply. "Yes," she replied. "Me being here is wrong. I should have never agreed on going on a date with you."

He seemed not to understand. He was thinking it was him, that he did something what he shouldn't have done.

"Oh," he groaned.

"No," she quickly continued when she saw he did not get what she was trying to say. "It's not you. You are…" she took a break to think about something clever to say but honestly, most of the time he spent talking about his traits or interests, she was not listening. Unintentionally, she was thinking about Dean and picturing him sitting on the chair which was now occupied by this random guy. "You are a great person," she assumed. "But I'm here for wrong reasons. There's somebody else I have feeling for. And to be honest, I only agreed on this date to get over him."

Adam felt how the door was closing right in front of him. The chance of getting the wonderful girl with gorgeous blonde hair equaled zero. "I see," he replied in a low voice.

"I'm really sorry," she apologized. She smiled at him in hope he would smile back but he didn't. It was totally understandable. She just ruined his dreams and destroyed his confidence. "I should go," she added. Then she stood up, looked at him to see what he was going to do but when he did nothing, she put on her coat and simply walked away.

She felt guilty for the whole situation but at the same time, she was sort of glad it happened. She was finally certain about her feelings. No more confusion. Now she knew what she needed to do. This awkward date helped Renee realize that Dean was not her crush, what she felt was much stronger and it wouldn't go away. More importantly, she did not want it to go away anymore. She really wanted to be with him. She wanted to talk to him and let him know about her secret desires. How she wished to kiss him. How she wished to take control over Dean's perfect body. She smiled at the thought of her doing nasty things to him. She imagined how amazing it would be if they became a couple. She could see the tension in her next interview with The Shield. She knew it would be incredibly hard for her to take her eyes off of Dean but that was a challenge she wanted to accept.

It all seemed so dreamy but so real at the same time. She was really looking forward to seeing Dean and revealing him her dirty secrets. She did not want to wait anymore, the time was right. There was no more doubt, therefore no reasons for postponing the talk. She did not know what to say yet but that didn't matter. Something would come up on her mind. She could be spontaneous. Maybe she wouldn't even need to speak; she could show him what she felt. She could take the initiative and be a bad girl for once. She could surprise him with a kiss.

On her way back to the hotel she starting laughing when she imagined a scenario when she was interviewing all three members of The Shield, she posed a question to Dean Ambrose, then he would start talking being all cocky and dominant as he always was, and then to his big surprise, she would stood up on her tiptoes, took him by his neck to pull him closer to her and finally connected her lips with his. She could see him losing the track of the script, breaking the kayfabe and not knowing what to do. How great that would be, she thought. Of course, she would never do that in real life but it was fun to picture that situation. And who knows, maybe when she finally meets him in order to break the news to him, the real situation will be even better. It was definitely something Renee was looking forward to.


	10. Chapter 10

**Another chapter's here. It's not filled with action but the next one will be. Renee will finally confront Dean. I hope to upload it on Tuesday, or ... actually it's probably going to be out on Wednesday (but you never know). Until then, enjoy this one.**

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Ever since Renee decided to talk to Dean about her feelings, she couldn't stop thinking about it, and mostly about him. She knew it was huge and it could change their lives forever. It could be the start of a romance that would hopefully turn into serious relationship. Renee knew that was what she wished for. Now it was time for Dean to make a decision. Well, not yet. Renee decided to wait one more day; she planned to reveal her secret to him right after Raw in Chicago. That gave her one last day when everything was normal. Since tomorrow, nothing would be the same. The minute she lets him know what he means to her will be the minute that will mark the end of their friendship. There were only two roads leading from there. Either he will be delighted and, in that case, he will gladly welcome the idea of them becoming a couple, or, in a much bitterer scenario, he puts her in an unpleasant, awkward position when he tells her he has no feelings for her.

Sometimes it seemed that Renee was forgetting the other option; in reality, she did not allow herself to think about refusal because those kinds of thoughts were making her doubt her decision to speak to him. She spent enough time going back and forth when choosing the best action she should take; now she was finally convinced that telling Dean she wishes to be his girlfriend was the right thing to do. If she took that decision back, again, she would lose precious time. She lost enough time already. If she told him earlier, there was a big chance they would be together by now. Or, oppositely, he would have already broken her heart and she would be on her way to recovery. Either way, the difficult part would be over.

Now that moment of truth was awaiting but she felt excited about it. She didn't know how it would end, but she was looking forward to it. If it was possible, she would talk to Dean right now. But he was nowhere near her so she needed to wait. It was only one more day, she could wait that long.

No, she couldn't. She couldn't help herself. She had to hear his voice. She didn't care if it was a stupid idea to call, particularly when she had no reason, not even an excuse, to talk to him. She had her own reasons but those were not some she could offer him as an explanation to why she called him in first place.

She picked up her phone and quickly dialed his number. Even before she heard him say something, she imagined his voice and she couldn't help but smile. She was excited about the whole situation, about tomorrow and his reaction, but the most legitimate reason behind her excitement was something of less importance, not so special, nor different from any other Monday. She was just eager to see him. It was that simple. The phone call she was making was a treat for her, a little preview for tomorrow.

"Hello, my sweetest angel, how can I help you?" Dean jokingly welcomed her call. Those three simple words were enough for Renee to lose control over her mind and body. She felt lost, drowning in his charm. He was like a magician who could easily fool her with his magic tricks.

"Renee?" he gently asked as if he didn't know whether she was listening or not since she did not reply. Frankly, he heard her breathing so he could say that she did not hang up but he still didn't know what was going on.

"Yes," she pulled herself together quickly enough. "Sorry, I just needed to do something." What the fuck did she just say? She needed to do something? Like what? She definitely did not find the best excuse for her silence. All she could do was to hope that Dean would not suspect anything.

"Oh, alright; for a moment I thought I might have annoyed you when I called you angel," he said. Renee wondered how that could seem annoying to someone. It was a genuinely nice nickname that everybody should be pleased to get.

"No, not at all. You can call me anything you want," she added rashly before she could realize that, once again, she did not choose the best words. She was so falling for that man that she could not act rationally and pretend nothing was happening. She knew it needed to stop. She was feeling like a teenage girl who had a crush on some celebrity. Well, it was not far from the truth. Except that she was not a teenage girl, although she might have been acting as one, and it was far more than just a simple crush. But Dean was a celebrity so that one was not a lie. Then again, she never saw him as a celebrity and she had never got nervous talking to him or being in his presence, until she started to fall in love with him. Now he had her under his control and he made her even more nervous than some wrestling legends, like The Undertaker. She was living in an absurd world of love where Dean Ambrose was the king and she was nothing more than a servant.

"So…," Dean wondered what was going on since the only thing he heard from Renee was another silence. So basically he did not hear anything.

Dammit! Renee thought when she realized she was losing it.

"Ok, Dean, here's the thing," she started but she did not prepare the end of that sentence in advance. "I really need to talk to you about something," she admitted, "but now I'm thinking that saying it this way is not appropriate."

"Is something wrong?" Dean worried. "Did something bad happen?" he wanted to know.

"No," she exclaimed, "I don't think so," she added quietly. She took a moment to continue. "I'm facing a big decision and I believe you're the one person that could help me."

"Me?" he showed his surprise. "I mean, I'm honored but I don't see how I could be someone to help you. I'm not very good at making decisions myself," he joked.

"Well, let's say I trust you enough to turn to you for help," she said in all seriousness. She omitted the other reason why he was the right person to talk to about her "big decision". Of course it was because he was the essence of that choice she was supposed to make.

"Aww, thank you," he was pleased. "I don't see how I deserved that but I really appreciate it. So, you say that you don't want to discuss it over the phone?" he was making sure he remembered what she said earlier.

"Exactly," she replied.

"Then we could talk about it tomorrow," he suggested and he heard that she immediately started laughing.

"That's what I was thinking," she explained.

"Could I get a hint of what is the conversation going to be about?" he pleaded.

First she didn't want to reveal anything to him but then she changed her mind and said, "It kind of concerns a certain member of The Shield." She was not lying, and she was specific enough. He did not need to know that the certain member was himself.

"Oh, that sounds interesting," he replied. "So we'll get back to it tomorrow, I can't wait," Dean admitted. "I would love to continue talking to you but now I've really got to go."

"That's alright," she assured him. "Bye for now."

"Bye, darling. Take care."

The conversation did not always go the way Renee wanted it to, but she was happy with the results. Now he knew there was something they needed to discuss and tomorrow he would learn more. There was no going back from it. Renee felt the pressure but it gave her courage she needed for Chicago. That was where her future would be decided.


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's the promised chapter. Actually, it's not. It's more of an introduction. But the next one will be. Finally! **

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„Hey, Renee!" Roman shouted across the hall when he noticed her standing in the backstage area.

When she heard him calling her name, she turned around and smiled as she was in a really good mood. It was a big night not only for The Shield, The Wyatt Family, and the crowd hoping to see CM Punk return to the company, but for her as well. Her enthusiasm did not have its source in wrestling though; the object of her interest was different, sort of unrelated to sports entertainment. She couldn't wait until the end of the show; she was so excited about things to come.

"What's up?" she asked Roman when he approached her.

"I'm looking for Seth. Have you seen him?" he wanted to know.

"Oh," she sighed. "Maybe he got scared of you and Dean," she joked. "Maybe he thought you were really mad at him for what he did in the match."

Roman didn't scrap that idea immediately although both of them knew it was very improbable, at least. "Well he did screw us over," Roman played with that kayfabe action. "If I don't find him in five minutes or so," he continued, "I will start to believe that he was so frightened that he left the arena."

Renee laughed and added in a serious manner: "If I see him, I'll tell him that you are looking for him."

"Thanks, Renee; that would be great."

As soon as Roman left and went back to the locker room, Renee spotted the lost dog who was walking out of the bathroom. He was no longer wearing his swat vest but he kept the black T-shirt and pants on. It really seemed to Renee that he hasn't been to the locker room yet, otherwise he would be wearing his casual clothes; therefore she could understand why Roman was unsuccessfully looking for him.

Seth was about to walk the other way so Renee hurried to talk to him and let him know that Roman wanted to have a word with him.

"Seth," she addressed him when she touched his shoulder from behind and for somebody who made living fighting other people; it was strange to see him being surprised and uncomfortable when suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, it's you," he said when he turned around to see a familiar face. He sounded relieved. For a moment, Renee reconsidered the idea of Seth being afraid of having to face his teammates.

"Are you okay?" she suspected his strange behavior.

"Sure I am," he responded.

"Are you avoiding someone?" she kept posing him uncomfortable questions. "Dean and Roman, maybe?" she guessed.

"Don't be silly, Renee," he refused that explanation. "I know the difference between kayfabe and reality. This is not my first day here," he reminded her.

"Then what is it?" she asked because she had a feeling that he was upset or something.

"To be honest," he started, "I'm trying not to bump into Cesaro. I sort of pissed him off earlier when I made a joke about Europe but he evidently didn't consider it funny. He took it too personally and, well, he promised he would find me after the show and swing me around."

"Whoa," Renee couldn't help but imagine Cesaro performing a giant swing on Seth. It happened before but she could watch that anytime. As could the WWE Universe.

"It's not nice, Renee," Seth acted seriously and took away her smile. "It may look like fun but in reality it disorients you and makes you want to throw up."

"Come on, Seth, I'm sure he did not mean it," she tried to comfort him and caressed the side of his arm.

"There you are," the two of them heard a familiar voice. Seth painfully swallowed and refused to turn around to see the face of fellow wrestler.

As Renee had nothing to worry about, she did look Cesaro in the eye and tried to break the tension. "Guys, guys, this is not a kindergarten." She looked at Cesaro, then at Seth. "I don't know what happened but let's not hurt anybody, ok? Now shake hands," she commanded them and Cesaro immediately remembered Zeb Colter who, earlier that night, forced The Real Americans to hug and forget about their mutual issues.

"He disrespected my culture," Cesaro protested.

"I didn't mean it," Rollins countered and without anybody noticing he kept moving behind Renee's back so that she would stand between the two men.

Renee wasn't sure if the situation was exaggerated or if there was some serious conflict taking place before her very eyes. Either way, she decided to become an authoritative figure and stop it right away. She could easily come up with a good excuse for it to end.

"I'm sorry Cesaro but your little fight is not gonna happen. Seth needs to find Roman because he wants to talk to him about something."

Seth was so glad that he had a reason to leave and let Cesaro cool down. They would be okay, it just seemed a little dangerous to be anywhere near Cesaro at the moment. He was mad at Seth and moreover, he did not fight a lot in his match so he had too much redundant energy in him. To feel better and safer, Seth took Renee by her hand and made her go with him. That way, there was somebody to use as a shield if necessary.

"Thanks," he told her as they walked through the hall.

"That was so silly," she commented on the situation that she witnessed few minutes ago. "Can't you act like adults?" she asked but did not get any answer at first.

"We will, we'll drink our troubles away in the bar," Seth responded.

Renee shook her head in disbelief but kept smile on her face. "So if you don't mind, I'm gonna go now. I believe that you don't need me anymore. And Roman asked only for you, not me," she added.

"Wait!" Seth suddenly stopped walking. "Roman really wants to talk to me? You didn't make that up?" he acted surprised.

"Why would I make that up?" she wondered.

Seth just shrugged his shoulders and started thinking what could that conversation be about. Before he could realize, Renee tried to sneak away but he, with his ninja vision, quickly noticed her runaway try.

He prevented her from leaving and explained to her: "What if I got into another trouble, with Roman this time. You can't leave me now. I could get a good use of you." He continued in his childish behavior just for effect. "Are you scared to face Dean?" he revealed his real opinion on reason why she wouldn't want to go into the locker room.

"No," Renee responded calmly. "I'm actually going to talk to him tonight. I've done some thinking and now I know I want Dean to know how I feel about him," she surprised Seth with lack of confusion and plenty of courage.

"Really?" he couldn't believe his ears.

She smiled being satisfied with herself and her decision. "Yes," she replied firmly.

"In that case, why to postpone that conversation? You can come inside with me right now," Seth suggested. "Oh, it's so amazing. Two of my close friends hitting it off. I can't wait for Dean to ask me to be his best man," Seth dreamed out loud.

"Shut up!" Renee exclaimed and hit him. His words make her imagine Dean in a wedding suit though. She certainly liked that idea. He would look just as hot as he did at the Slammy Awards. She could not help but hear him saying 'I know; I look great'.

"Anyway," Seth became serious again, "good luck," he wished her right before he opened the door to the men locker room where both Roman and Dean were awaiting.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is a shorter chapter and will be followed by another one. Dean and Renee will not have the talk yet but that doesn't mean that nothing will happen.**

**Let me know what you think about it.**

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When Seth opened the door to the men's locker room in the Allstate Arena, acting like a gentleman that he was, he let the woman walk in first. What Seth didn't realize was that neither Dean nor Roman expected to see a girl in there. They were surprised and interrupted in changing their clothes. While Roman has just put on his shirt, Dean was still in the phase of pointlessly walking around the room, shirtless. In reality, he was on a search for his V-neck white T-shirt. He looked everywhere but it was difficult to locate it when there were several piles of clothes just lying around. But as soon as he noticed Renee walking inside, he froze, and so did she.

"Hey, man," Roman started speaking ignoring the awkward situation. "There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere," he addressed his words to Seth who noticed the tension which arose between Dean and Renee, but he decided not to do anything about it.

"Well, then I guess you're not very good at searching," Seth noted nonchalantly.

Roman responded with a sarcastic smile while pointing out: "I'm still better than Dean. He's been trying to find his shirt for at least ten minutes."

"So that's why you're half naked and don't do anything about it," Renee joked to ease up the moment and avoid people noticing her lingering on Dean's abs. When Dean did not seem to respond, she added: "Let me help you with that."

He telepathically thanked her and continued in a search, now more intensively than before. Renee started on the other side and did her best to keep her cool. It was incredibly difficult for her not to stare at Dean's muscular body but if she failed, she knew there would be consequences.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Seth returned to the former conversation.

Roman started focusing on him but after few seconds he told him in surprise: "Huh, I don't remember." Seth shook his head in disbelief. Well, the good thing was he didn't come to the locker room just to talk to Roman. He wanted to change as well, but now with a woman in there, he had to wait.

While Seth kept standing beside the lockers with his arms crossed, trying to suppress the need to start whistling, Roman remembered that he still had something to talk about, even though originally the subject matter of the conversation was different. He didn't care; it would come up in his mind eventually. The important thing was that he had something to kill time with while Renee was still in the room, unaware that she was preventing Seth, and in that matter all of the guys, from being themselves and acting as they usually did in the locker room.

"Anyway, Seth, Renee," Roman included her in the conversation, "have you heard the big news?" He gave them a couple of seconds to think about their guesses which they would present to him.

"Are you going to fight Seth?" Renee asked referring to their earlier in-ring dispute and a need for a punishment for Seth Rollins who refused to cooperate with the other Shield members in their match with The Wyatt Family.

"Nah, but I would like that," he laughed.

"My turn," Seth said. "Are you…," he took a moment to think, "Are you gonna get a haircut?" he joked but secretly he hoped he wouldn't because he really liked Roman's long hair.

"Nope," he responded.

"Hey, that's my catchphrase!" Dean exclaimed suddenly and accused his mate of stealing the word he became famous for.

"So now we're not allowed to say it anymore?" Roman wondered without considering what a great opportunity for response he just offered to Dean.

"Nope," Dean said and he couldn't be happier. It was his way of showing dominance while not being too serious at the same time.

Although the situation was far from getting out of control, Renee intervened again. She had a great opportunity to avoid the "fight" when she found Dean's shirt, resting on the ground underneath the bench, and handed it to him. "Now you have no reason to be shirtless," she added.

"There's always a reason," Dean protested but put his T-shirt on anyway.

"Can we get back to the topic, please?" Seth seemed to be the only one to remember there was actually something they were talking about.

"Right," Roman started to focus again. "Let me help you out. It's about Dean," he gave them some new information and in an instance, everybody started looking at Dean who pretended not to care about the conversation.

Neither Seth nor Renee had a clue what could be the "big news". Did it have to do anything with wrestling, with The Shield or Dean's gimmick?

"Are you getting rid of your earring?" Seth suddenly asked and it was one thing about Dean that really bothered him.

"You wish," he responded knowing Seth never really liked it.

"Are you getting a tattoo?" Renee guessed and tried to imagine him with one. It was sort of difficult, it somehow did not belong to Dean, but still she was sure that it would look sexy.

"You're far from truth, guys," Roman let them know. "I'll give you a hint. What is the last thing you would expect from Dean?" he posed a question that was supposed to help them.

"Are you turning babyface?" Renee gave it a shot and it certainly was something that was hard to imagine. Dean gave her a disgusted look while Roman started laughing. Seth knew as well that it wasn't it; if the news had something to do with Dean's wrestling career in the WWE, he would already know since they were a part of the same faction.

"Somebody has to stay heel, right, Dean?" Roman noted referring to him turning face soon and becoming a fans' favorite who was already getting a lot of cheers.

"So what is it?" Seth couldn't wait anymore. He had enough of teasing. He didn't care whether Roman or Dean would be the one to say it out loud; he wanted to know what was going on and refused to continue in unproductive guessing.

"Alright, you both failed terribly," Roman started and seemed to be the one to reveal the secret. Dean acted like it was no big deal and it didn't need the fanfares or the drumroll Roman wished to have.

Roman looked at Dean one more time and gave him the biggest smile ever, applauding whatever it was that he accomplished. He then looked at Seth who was getting into a trance, craving for the answer, and Renee who had no idea what to expect.

"Dean's got a girlfriend," he finally revealed to them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's what happens when Renee learns that Dean has a girlfriend.**

**The scene is not over yet, and there's Smackdown tonight so I guess that means I need to write another chapter today. Good luck to me :P**

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„Dean's got a girlfriend," Roman said and he expected to get some positive and surprised reactions from both Seth and Renee. It was a huge thing after all. Dean wasn't that kind of guy who found himself happy being in a relationship. He avoided them; he looked for fun, not a commitment. But it seemed to have changed. When Roman heard the news from Dean earlier that day he first thought Dean was joking. It turned out he wasn't and Roman was really happy for him. He thought Seth and Renee would feel the same but they seemed rather shocked.

First thing Seth did when he heard it was looking at Renee. He could not respond before he saw her reaction. And he certainly felt bad for her. He was the only one who knew about her feelings for Dean and he could imagine how difficult the situation was for her. Seth was pleased that Dean finally found somebody who he considered worthy to start legitimately dating but he hoped it would be Renee and not some random chick. But it happened and Seth wanted to support Dean in his relationship; except he couldn't. Not with Renee standing next to him; he tried to fight the urge of hugging and comforting her. She seemed so fragile surrounded by the three men, and facing the painful reality, while unable to show what she truly feels.

And she really did felt surrounded. There was no escape; she did her best to hide her emotions. She felt like crying but she couldn't show anybody her weakness. She had to stay strong, even though her world has just broken down. The cheerfulness she felt few moments ago was replaced with emptiness. She felt lonely, and yet she was not alone, but she wished she was. It would be much easier to deal with the reality if nobody was around.

She looked at Dean and saw his beautiful smile, the lips she lusted after but now she knew she couldn't kiss them, she couldn't hold Dean in a way she wanted. All her desires had to be burned. There was no way she could have the talk with him anymore. She was destined to deal with her feelings on her own, and that meant to get a rid of them once and for all.

The truth was bitter and it was even worse that she did not expect it; it took her by surprise and at the worst time possible. Although, she was glad she learned he had a girlfriend before telling him she was, possibly, in love with him. The awkwardness she would face in that case would be unbearable; this way nobody except Seth knew and it was for the best.

Renee was biting her lower lip while avoiding having an eye contact with somebody; she stared at the wall so that her emotions could not get the best of her and betray her. She tried to help to push them away by thinking about something else, something funny maybe but her effort resulted only in another thought about Dean Ambrose. She could not fight it anymore; she had to look at him again. She did not care if it hurts her, that face was giving her courage and making her stronger on the inside. He was the one person who could make her feel better, while at the same time he was the cause of her disillusion. He was both and he was all. He was what she needed but couldn't get. And that was the fact that she had to learn to live with.

"Congrats," she finally said when she reached the level of numbness that allowed her to face the reality. She was not happy but she wouldn't let that ruin Dean's happiness. She cared for him and she did her best to make herself believe that her love was unconditional. She was supposed to allow him to find the source of satisfaction and joyfulness somewhere else. As long as he was smiling, she was too.

Except it didn't work that way. That was just a theory; the reality was totally different. She could not accept him being with somebody else and moreover, be happy about it. That was impossible to achieve. There was no way she could forget about him and stop thinking about him in a way that was not compatible with friendship. She wanted him and she has even understood that she needs to do something about it, and not wait for him to magically find out. But it was too late. What are the odds that as soon as she decides to talk to him about her feelings, he finds somebody and gets into a relationship? It was Dean Ambrose, those things don't happen with him; he was different, he was not like regular guys, and that was what attracted her about him. Well, that, and some more obvious things like his gorgeous body, energy, attitude and the way he talked to her. But if she keeps thinking about him this way she cannot move on; not that it was possible anyway; but she needed to try.

"Yeah, that's great news, man," Seth added but kept the enthusiasm down. He could not look at it the way Roman did since Roman did not know about Renee's secret. He was still surprised that Renee was handling the situation so well; she did not let anybody see what was going on her mind. Her behavior was maybe a little suspicious, but then again so was Seth's.

"You two say it like it's no big deal," Roman noted.

"Well, it's not," Dean opposed. "It happens to everyone," he joked to lighten up the mood which was below the expected level.

"Not to you. I mean, when was the last time you met someone and you two hit it off? And how amazing is she when you fall in love with her so fast?" Roman tried to show him that it truly was something unusual.

"You're in love with this girl?" Renee asked and words cannot explain how difficult it was for her to pose that question to him while knowing how he would respond.

Dean looked at Renee and although he successfully fought the urge to smile, his eyes were ruining it for him. "I might be," he admitted. "I mean, we met only two weeks ago, it was that night after the last Raw before the Elimination Chamber when we all headed to the bar afterwards. Well you didn't," he reminded Renee who quickly remembered that she skipped going to the pub because she was supposed to meet a friend of hers. The idea of how different the situation would be if she went there popped in her mind but it was too painful to deal with. She could not allow herself to wonder whether her being there could mean that Dean would be single now. Luckily Dean continued talking so he gave her no time to torture herself with pessimistic thoughts. "Anyway, the truth is, a day hasn't passed without me calling her and when I have time off I visit her. She's really great. And the best thing is she doesn't know me, she doesn't watch wrestling so she has no idea that I am a professional wrestler. She can like me for who I really am and she's not afraid of me because of some pretty nasty gimmicks that I have had. When I'm with her, it's really me, not an arrogant jerk or a lunatic fringe. She brings the best out of me and she really makes me happy," he explained to them. "So I guess I'm really falling for her," he turned to Renee to answer her question.

That was when she couldn't take it anymore. She felt nauseous and unable to breathe. She felt lost. Not angry, just numb. But even that numbness had barriers which Dean crossed when he kept dreaming about his new girl while looking Renee directly in the eye; unaware of how much he was hurting her.

"I've gotta go," she said quickly not giving anybody chance to ask why. She stormed out of the men's locker room and without even closing the door after her, she ran away failing to hold back the tears.


	14. Chapter 14

**So it continues... Seth comforts Renee but Dean does not make it easier for her when he reminds her she wanted to talk to him.**

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„Renee, Renee!" she heard a voice calling after her. She recognized the voice and knew it wasn't somebody she could ignore; so she wiped the tears away and tried to stop sobbing before turning around to face Seth.

"I'm so stupid," she exclaimed in anger.

"No, you're not," Seth wanted to prove her wrong. "You couldn't know."

Renee knew he was right but didn't let him see she believed him. She was disappointed; not with Dean but with herself. She was sad and depressed; she couldn't hide that from Seth or anybody else who would look at her.

"Come here," Seth whispered and took her into his arms. He knew she needed somebody to ease her pain. He wouldn't leave her alone; he was her friend after all. And in this situation, he was the only one who could understand what she was going through. Unlike anybody else, he had the information and could easily recognize the reason why she had no intention in staying in the same room with Dean, and for that matter with Roman as well.

"It's gonna be alright," he consoled her with a cliché phrase. He believed it would get better; it couldn't get any worse after all. "And hey," he continued, "he said they've only known each other for two weeks, it's not serious."

"Didn't you see his face when he was talking about her?" Renee opposed. "He was all over her; he was happy. I wouldn't want to stand in the way. If she is what he wants, then I'm not going to ruin it for him, or confuse him by telling him that I love him."

"You love him?" Seth looked at her to make her give him a straight answer. She has never said she loved him before but if she really did, the situation was even worse.

"I don't know," she sighed, "I but I think it wouldn't hurt so much if I didn't." It made sense. But it was all so wrong. Wasn't love meant to be easy?

Seth ran his hand through Renee's hair and softly kissed her on the forehead. She was like a little child who tripped over and started crying; then its parent would come to kiss him and make the pain go away. The situation was different with Renee, it wasn't that simple.

"Even if I did," Renee continued while Seth was there to listen to her, "it doesn't change anything. It doesn't give me the right to intervene in his relationship. She might be the love of his life for all I know."

"Or you might be," Seth opposed.

Renee didn't respond to that, she chose to ignore his comment. If he was true, she didn't want to know. What would it change anyway?

Suddenly they heard some steps coming their way so Seth let go off Renee and they both quickly moved away from each other to avoid looking suspicious. It was Dean, now fully dressed, who was walking towards them.

"Guys," he said when he was close enough for them to hear him, "is something wrong?" he worried.

"No," they mechanically replied and tried to look happy which was incredibly difficult, especially for Renee, to achieve.

Dean decided not to ask anything because if something was indeed going on, they probably wouldn't tell him anyway. "Alright," he let it go.

Seth looked at Renee one more time to see how she was handling seeing Dean but fortunately for her, there was no remainder of earlier tears in her eyes, and she seemed to be doing well considering her current situation and a little emotional meltdown she experienced prior to Dean's arrival.

"On a different note, can I have a word with you, Renee?" Dean asked gently but the question put both Renee and Seth in confusion.

Seth felt the need to provide an excuse for Renee but failed to come up with something relevant. He looked at her instead and searched through her facial expressions to find a clue telling him whether she was ready to face Dean or not.

Renee knew she wouldn't avoid the conversation; she realized it as soon as she, just as Seth, unsuccessfully attempted to find something that would prevent her from having to talk to Dean.

"I don't see why not," she admitted.

He smiled at her and instructed her into an empty office where they would both sat down on the sofa and face each other prior the conversation which was nothing less than uncomfortable necessity for Renee.

"Don't think I would let you slip away before we talk," he started.

"Why would I want to?" Renee posed a rhetorical question although there were many reasons for her to want to avoid it.

"So?" he encouraged her.

"So what?" she didn't know what he wanted her to say.

"Well, I thought you would be the one to start. You called me to discuss your problem after all," he reminded her.

"Oh, that. You know what? Let's just forget about it. It's not important."

She tried to stand up to leave but Dean wouldn't allow it; he grabbed her hand and made her sit down again.

"I see what's going on," he said and Renee swallowed heavily wondering if he might know about her secret. "You said it had something to do with one member of The Shield." Renee nodded and kept hoping he was wrong in his assumption. "Well, I don't think the term Shield is relevant here since I suppose it's not really about wrestling, am I right?" She nodded again. "So I came to a conclusion that it's something personal and what can be more personal than relationships…" Now she really started to worry but kept pushing the thought of him knowing the truth away. "Do you, let's say, have affection for somebody? Do you like somebody more than you would care to admit?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," she protested.

"Come on, I'm not going to judge you or anything. So just tell me, is it true?"

She took a moment to think whether it would be better to deny or admit it. Then she answered with simple "Yes."

"I thought so," he replied. "But you need to understand that it's not right."

"I know," she sighed quietly.

"He's in a relationship and you shouldn't interfere with it."

"Yes," she agreed but then noticed there was something weird about his sentence. "Wait, what?" she asked out loud. Did he just say '_he_'s in a relationship'?

"You shouldn't get in the way; he loves his girlfriend," he continued.

"Who are you talking about?" Renee was confused.

"Well, I know that the person you have feelings for is Seth. I've noticed that recently you've spent a lot of time with him and when you were standing in the hallway, I saw you two hugging."

Renee did not know if she should tell him that it's not Seth but if he knew, the options would narrow down to two people, Roman and Dean which would include the right person but that was too dangerous; she didn't want Dean to know. So instead she followed Dean's lead and let him believe that she was in love with Seth.

"Oh," she pretended to be surprised. "But what should I do?" she asked. She thought as well that since Dean know that she has feelings for somebody, although he mistakes the person, he might actually help her find a solution to her problem.

"You should fight those feelings; he's happy and you don't want to be the one to ruin it for him, do you?"

"Of course not," she responded.

"In that case be a friend, be there for him but don't ask him for more. Don't take advantage of his trust in you. You might both end up hurt and in the worst scenario, you would make him stop liking you and even make him hate you. You need to be careful about this. I know that it's difficult but try not to be selfish and take him away from his girlfriend. Respect _his_ feelings and, just try to be happy for him."

It was hard to listen but he had a point; letting go of him was the one thing she needed to do. No matter how painful it was, she needed to forget and move on. She certainly didn't want to lose him as a friend.

"You're right," she admitted. _Except it's you who I love_, she finished the sentence in her mind.


	15. Chapter 15

**I so wanted to study and not write anything today but well... I guess I failed :)**

**Here you have what happens tonight before Raw (close enough). Enjoy!**

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„What did you tell him?!" Seth freaked out when he heard Renee's answer after he finally confronted her in order to find out whether she had something to do with Dean's strange behavior. For a whole week Dean treated Seth as a poor guy who everybody gossips about and he himself knows nothing about it. Now it started to make sense. Dean believed that Seth was the one Renee had a crush on. That was why seemed like he wanted to tell Seth something but never did.

„Well, I did not _tell_ him that. He just came to a conclusion and I did not correct him," she defended herself. „I mean, what was I supposed to say? Uhm, I'm sorry to interrupt you, Dean," she dramatized to make a point, „but you're wrong. I don't love Seth, I am actually in love with you?" Renee hoped that Seth would realize how ridiculous that would be.

„I guess not," he replied. „But do you really think that this is gonna solve the problem?"

„No, I really don't," she admitted. "Right now, I don't see any solution. I am desperate so if you have any idea, just tell me. And I'm sorry that you got involved in it but does it really bother you that much?" she hoped to get a negative answer but when Seth stayed quiet, she continued but switched to a defensive side. „If you mind, I can try to do something about it, I can tell him it's…" she tried to come up with a name but failed.

"No," he stopped her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. I know that it's been hard on you. Just next time, if you gave me a heads up, it would nice," he spoke friendly to her.

"Yeah, I should have. I guess I forgot about the whole situation," she tried to explain her actions, or a lack of them.

"You mean you forced it out of your mind," he corrected her. "That's ok."

"I wish I knew what to do," she was thinking out loud. "The only thing I know is that telling him would be a bad idea."

"I have to agree with that. I know I told you before you need to tell him but now he's in a relationship and you don't want to confuse him, do you?"

Renee lingered on the word 'confuse' for a while. It could only confuse him if he felt something for her too. She wished she could read his mind and see what he really thought about her. If she told him, would he hesitate what to do? Would he be like 'no, thanks' and went back to his new girlfriend, or would he, even for a second, consider breaking up with her in order to get together with Renee? Renee tried to convince herself that it was better not to know. Those 'what if' questions never work anyway.

"You know that I don't," she told Seth who had to wait for her answer. "I just wish we could forget about the whole thing," she revealed her wish.

"Well, I doubt that it will be that easy. Now that Dean knows, I mean, he thinks he knows the truth, he's not gonna let it go and be forgotten. I bet he already told Roman and I believe that it's just a matter of time until he tells me as well."

"Why would he do that?" Renee wondered.

"Firstly, he wants to be a good friend and, unlike you," he emphasized, "he wants to give me a heads up; and secondly," he continued, "he's not that good at keeping secrets. It would not surprise me if half of the locker room knew by next Monday."

"No!" she exclaimed in an unhidden horror. She would panic if that happened. "That cannot happen. Tell me it won't," she tried to find a support in Seth who was, unfortunately for Renee, only half joking.

"If people find out, I am screwed. God, I've never thought of that scenario. Why the hell did I tell him?" She wished she could go one week back and prevent herself from telling Dean.

"Don't worry," Seth tried to calm her down, "I'll do something about it. I can talk to him, or," he changed his mind when he realized that he was not supposed to know about the situation, "I'll tell Roman to talk to him."

"Yeah, let's tell more people. That'll solve the problem," she ironized.

"Renee, breath," he suggested, "nobody knows, and nobody's gonna find out."

Seth held her worried head and pressed her against his chest. He snuggled her in his arms while sitting on the couch in the common room. He knew that was the one place nobody visited so it was an ideal spot for a private conversation. What he did not realize was that he shared this secret sanctuary with two other people, the ones who could ruin the peace that Renee finally found. It took Seth a while to calm Renee down but he seemed to succeed when he placed her legs up on the sofa and her upper body down on his thighs covered in Shield gear.

There was not much time left before the start of Raw and they were all already dressed up, Renee had her hair done, but none of that mattered; Seth saw the highest priority in tranquilizing Renee so that she would be emotionally ready for her interviews as well as her encounters with Dean. Seth smiled when he noticed that Renee seemed to fall asleep and did not mean to wake her up immediately. Instead, he carefully lifted her head while standing up, and placed it back on the couch without ruining the happy moment for her. She was still asleep when he approached the door and decided to leave her there for at least a couple of minutes. He would come back later to let her know it was time to get ready for Raw but until then, she could use the serenity of Shield's haven.

But as soon as Seth closed the door behind him, he spotted Roman and Dean walking his way.

"Oh, shit," he exclaimed quietly so that they would not hear him.

"Seth, you want to revise the dialogues?" Dean suggested.

"Yeah… Yeah, sure," he planned to sound smooth but it was harder than it seemed. He kept thinking about them walking inside and finding Renee lying on the couch.

"Shall we go inside?" Roman asked and pointed at the room that Seth wanted to avoid.

"Actually, I need to get my vest from the locker room," he said and he wasn't even lying as he luckily left it in the bag which was located in one of the lockers. "So why don't you with me there and we can revise it on the way?" he continued. He was glad they did not question him or find his behavior suspicious.

"Ok, sounds good," Roman replied and all three of them started walking away from the room that brought too much stress into Seth's life in the past few minutes.

When he thought it was finally over and he succeeded in taking Roman and Dean's attention away from the room, Dean suddenly stopped walking and turned the other way. "I'll catch you two in a minute, I just need to check if my phone's not in there. I can't seem to find it," he mumbled, and it was too late for Seth to stop him. When he realized what was going on, any kind of action on his side would be considered suspicious. So he just gave up and continued walking towards the locker room together with Roman, leaving Dean to the surprise that was awaiting him.

Dean opened the door and was about to slam close it when he saw Renee lying on the sofa, sleeping. Her face was gentle and peaceful; her eyes were closed so that he could stare at her without her knowing about it; her hands were placed under her head, knees bended so that she could place her whole body on the short piece of furniture. Her blonde hair was covering half of her face but it could not cover up her beauty.

It took Dean a minute or two to realize the world did not stop turning in the moment he saw her, and he finally closed the door. One quick sight of Renee was enough for him to forget why he entered the room in the first place. He was able to focus on her only. He slowly moved closer to her until he could not make any more steps without hitting the couch. Then he sat down on the floor next to her, Indian style, and followed his instinct to stroke her cheek. He caressed her hair while looking at her lovely lips. He placed his finger on them and licked his lips fighting with some unknown desire.

When he realized something strange was going on, he sobered up from the dream-like moment and returned to reality. He got scared of the unknown. He immediately took his hand away from her and moved his whole body backwards a little. He swallowed with difficulty while still staring at her. He couldn't look away for another couple of seconds. When he finally did, he stood up and leaving everything untouched and the way it was before he entered, he simply walked away.


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm sorry it took me so long to write another chapter but finally here it is. Also, thank you for all the favoriting/following/reviewing, I always appreciate it when you let me know what you think.**

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„What are you doing?" Dean asked irritably after he grabbed Renee by her arm. She was just going to avoid having another conversation with him but he simply wouldn't let go. He made her face him and look him in the eye. She felt uncomfortable and threatened by Dean's annoyed mood.

„I believe I'm doing my job," she replied in an unfriendly manner but showing hatred has never been her strong side. She felt rather nervous and started to squeeze the papers that she was holding.

„That's not what I'm talking about. I ask what are you doing?"

„Can you be more specific?" she asked.

„I know you've been with Seth earlier," he explained but it only resulted in confusing Renee even more. She was wondering what Dean meant by _been with_ _Seth_. She really hoped he did not think that something happened between them. Of course, they were in the 'Shield's room' together, alone, but how could Dean know anyway? But even he did, why would he assume that something that would be dangerous for their friendship happened in there?

„So?" Renee didn't even try to persuade him it was not true. He would not believe her and more importantly, she didn't do anything bad after all.

„So?" he repeated. „Don't you see any reason why you shouldn't do that?"

"No," she admitted bravely. "I believe I am allowed to spend time with my friends."

"Yes, of course you are. But considering your desire to be than just his friend, I don't trust your intentions."

Renee didn't want to have this conversation with him. They were in the middle of Raw and feeling uncomfortable or frustrated was the last thing she needed. Unfortunately, Dean was making her feel that way and it got worse with every single word he said. As if it wasn't already hard enough for her, he had to confront her and talk down to her.

"I know what I'm doing," she replied with confidence and turned away from him to leave.

"You cannot have him," he shouted so that she could still hear him after she made a few steps. That was when she stopped walking, turned back to him and angrily stepped up to him.

"You think I don't realize that?" she cried. "I know very well that we can ever become a couple, I cannot even confess to him what I feel. I'm trying to be okay with that but it's not that easy."

"Then why do you make it more difficult for yourself by spending so much time with him?"

"Should I just not see him again? How am I supposed to accomplish that? We work together," she reminded him.

"But maybe it would be best if you avoided him for a while," he suggested and this time he sounded a little friendlier. His words were still quite harsh but he needed to be strict.

"I wish I could," she mumbled to herself. Then she looked up at him and said: "I can't do that."

"Well, you have to," he emphasized and once again returned to his cold attitude. "No good can come from you being close to him. You need to stop this once and for all. But as Seth's friend, if you keep luring him or doing whatever it is that attracts guys to you, I will have to step in."

"Are you seriously threatening me?" she couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Let's say I am warning you."

"I can't believe this," Renee sighed. "You think that the fact that you're Seth's friend gives you the right to tell me what to do? You cannot stop me from talking to him and seeing him, even outside WWE."

"I'm sorry you see it that way but all I'm doing is really just being a good friend. I cannot let you ruin his relationship and even his life with your obsession," Dean would not stop himself from making Renee angry.

"Firstly, it's not an obsession," she explained. "And secondly, I've got this feeling that you don't need to worry about it anymore. With this attitude, the whole crash thing will be over soon."

She was hurt but she tried not to let it show. She hated when Dean acted this way. It made her wonder why she started falling for him in the first place. He could be such a jerk sometimes. And sure, he believed he had reasons to be authoritative, but fundamentally, the truth he believed in did not concern him. It was up to Renee and Seth to deal with the situation. Dean's interference could cause only harm and damage. And it started to show when Renee, offended by Dean's behavior and his words, fought with holding back the tears. She wished Dean would realize what he was doing to her. He came to defend Seth, saying he was his friend, but he seemed to have forgotten that he was Renee's friend as well. He certainly didn't treat her as such; instead he tried to fight her as if she was an enemy. Even with noble purposes, he sometimes went too far.

"I'm glad to hear that," he responded to her previous remark.

"You've achieved what you wanted," she said quietly, losing the strength to argue with him. Realizing she was about to lose another fight, with her emotions this time, she chose to surrender and go hide away from Dean. She could not even look at him, he using his words made her hate him.

She just wanted to go home and be alone, preferably spend at least one week without seeing Dean. Unfortunately, that was a dream scenario which would never happen. In real world, she had to face the reality of constant travelling spiced up with being forced to see and even talk to Dean on almost everyday basis. She was so happy just a couple of days ago, now everything have changed. The crush on Dean which seemed so innocent at first later grew into deep desire fuelled with thoughts of enthusiastic future, and finally turned into misery that wouldn't leave her. She was falling in love with him, now he was becoming the one she hated the most. It did not necessarily mean she was falling out of love, love was still there; it was just being buried by Dean's inconsiderate actions.

And the worst thing was that he didn't even realize it. He was repulsing her away from him; he unintentionally made her want to avoid not Seth but him, but in his eyes, considering she was not in love with Seth but Dean, that was the plan. His aim was to convince Renee that she should stop seeing the one she had feelings for, and in that case, he succeeded.

Unfortunately, he did not see what an important role Seth played in the whole story. He might not have been playing the leading role but he was certainly and literally the supporting act. Since the time she told him about her secret, he was truly her friend, not like Dean pretended to be for Seth; he was always there when she needed him, even when she thought she didn't. He never failed to give her advice or make her see the truth. He did not force her into something she didn't want to do and most importantly, he never judged her. She loved him for all that and she wished Dean would be more like him. The situation would be much simpler if Seth was the one she felt in love with but she has never thought of him that way and she didn't want to. Her relationship with him was perfect the way it was. But now Dean stepped in and tried to break their bond, making her lose the one person she could count on. She was destined to deal with the situation on her own; and she knew she would fail.


	17. Chapter 17

**Just to let you know, there'll probably be two follow-up chapters coming either both tomorrow or one tomorrow and one on Wednesday. **

**Another good news may be that my holiday starts on Friday so I'll have more time for writing. **

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Renee was mad. A week has almost passed since she had a proper conversation with Dean. She couldn't forget about it. It was Monday, another Raw was coming, and there have been many times she was forced to interview Dean or discuss something work-related with him. But except for those cases, she did her best to avoid him. She took his advice. He told her that she should avoid Seth for apparent reasons. Although she had no real reasons to do so, just to keep Dean in belief that Seth was the one she had feelings for, indeed, she spent no time talking to him or being alone with him. But she did the same thing with Dean. Now she might have done it in order to get over him, but in reality, she just couldn't stand him. She hated herself for being obsessed with him, especially when she considered the way Dean treated her last week. He didn't see why it was bad and he felt no need to apologize. He certainly didn't understand what was going on with Renee but he had a doubt he had something to do with it. Either way, he didn't intend to do anything about it.

He would probably keep minding his own business if Renee didn't make it obvious that she was ignoring him. To be honest, she really ignored the whole Shield. It was just a couple of hours until the start of Raw and the authority gathered everybody who was scheduled to appear tonight to give them information regarding the show and each person's role in it. Wrestlers spent some time rehearsing and memorizing new lines and instructions that they were given. Renee herself studied carefully the script and one by one contacted people she was having some conversations or scenes with. She seemed really focused on her job unlike some other guys who were just goofing around.

Dean received his script but he barely looked at it, he never spent on it more time than necessary, he was always ready to improvise or add his own part that would confuse people working with him though. He told himself that he would read the text thoroughly later, he was too fixated on Renee and on what she was doing. He was not sure if she noticed that he was staring at her but even if she did, she did not let it show. On the other hand, it could be understood easily that she was purposely not looking at and not talking to Dean. She has talked to many other wrestlers, commentators or people doing the office job, but when she was coming close to Dean, or the group of Dean, Seth and Roman for that matter, she would change direction.

At one point, she was passing them by while they were in the middle of a wrestling-unrelated conversation, and Roman, who until now hasn't noticed anything strange about her behavior, being a nice guy he said hello to her. When she did not respond and showed no sign of receiving what he said, although he pronounced it clearly and loudly enough, he wondered if it was just because she was busy and hurrying to talk to Stephanie. But when she was coming back the same way maybe two minutes later and Roman tried to grab her attention so that she would chat with him, and Renee just raised her hand towards him making it clear she had no intention in a conversation whatsoever, he took it personally and found it very strange of her since she was always a nice and smiling person. Now there was no sign of smile on her face nor there could be found slightest eye contact on her side. And this strange and unusually impolite behavior made him curious.

"Is it just me or was that weird?" he asked his colleagues.

Seth was not really focusing on Renee until then, he was lost in the plan of upcoming match, but Dean immediately noticed Renee's reactions, he has been watching her for some time and was quite frankly curious about Roman's attempt to talk to her and what she would do. When she refused to look at any of them, more precisely on anybody standing dangerously close to Dean, it became clear to him.

"What happened?" Seth finally started paying attention.

"Renee just blew me off. Have I done something?" he asked himself.

"Have you?" Dean took interest in that question in order to figure out if there was any other explanation of her behavior than Dean's involvement in it.

"No," he refused, "I don't think so."

"Now that you talk to about," Seth showed his concern, "the same thing happened to me. Or, actually, she's been avoiding me for a week now. And I don't think I've acted rudely to her nor have I done something to piss her off. I mean, I could have, but I think it's unlikely."

Both guys shared a worried and confused look trying to figure out what it was that made Renee want to avoid talking to them.

Then Dean spoke, "I think I might have something to do with it." His voice was quiet being ashamed of himself.

"What have you done this time?" Roman asked sluggishly emphasizing it has happened before.

"I think the last time I talked to her I tried to make my point so badly that I acted thoughtlessly and probably quite rudely as well."

Seth sympathized with Renee and felt bad for her when he imagined what she had to go through talking to Dean, considering the topic of that conversation. Roman, on the other hand, just sighed loudly.

"You should be forbidden to talk to her," he said. "So what was so bad that you made her hate us all?" he wanted to know.

"I can't tell you that," he responded. "It's private."

"Then why the hell do Seth and I have to suffer because of it? She should be avoiding you, not us," he noted.

"I believe that's what she's been doing. It's just that I'm standing right next to you, that's why she has no interest in talking to you right now," Dean tried to explain to him.

"But Seth said that she's been avoiding him for a week and I don't think that you've been with him all the time."

Since Seth easily realized why it was so, he intended to help Dean take Roman's focus off the topic. If Dean tried to explain how it was possible that Renee didn't want to talk to Seth either, no matter how distant Dean might be, Seth was sure that Dean would get lost in desperate search for a lie.

"Let's leave it. I believe when Dean makes up for what he messed up, things will get back to normal."

"I agree," Dean accepted Seth's help although he was surprised by it considering Seth was not supposed to know anything about the problem. "I need to talk to her," Dean continued and planned to do so immediately.

"No," Roman opposed and stopped Dean by placing his stretched arm against Dean's chest; interrupting his on-going movement and making him step back. "I don't think Renee would appreciate talking to you," he explained his action.

Seth was about to offer himself to ease things up between Renee and the guys, or more notably Dean, but he quickly realized that since he was not supposed to have any helpful information about the conflict, his offer would seem coming out of nowhere and being pointless. So he just waited for situation to resolve without his interference.

"You better keep your distance," Roman recommended Dean who was a little angry at Roman for stopping him and commanding him what to do and what not to do. "I'm gonna find out what's the matter and hopefully make Renee see that you did not mean to cause any harm. Or did you?" Roman asked doubtfully when he noticed Dean looking away like a guilty dog that knows he's been caught. "Oh, Dean. Why don't you just learn when it's time to shut up?" he asked him rhetorically, shaking his head in disbelief that there was yet another mistake caused by Dean that he now needed to fix.


	18. Chapter 18

**I've a got a little short something for you :-) But don't worry, there are still two more chapters to come in the following two days as I promised. **

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As Roman has promised, he would go to Renee and solve the problem that Dean had created. He decided there was no need for Dean to be involved until he found out what was the matter and to what extent was Renee overreacting, if at all. In order to do so, he found a perfect moment when Renee was left alone, taking a break from preparing for tonight, sitting by a catering table and drinking coffee.

At first she didn't notice Roman making his way through the bunch of guys who were way too excited about their soon-to-come performance. When Renee finally spotted Roman and realized it was her he was looking at and planning to have a chat with, she got nervous and felt guilty about the way she acting towards him earlier. He had nothing to do with it; she just didn't want to be around Dean.

When Roman was only few steps away from her, knowing there was no escape, Renee put down the cup of black coffee, stood up and courageously looked him in the eye. He was taller than her and although he was a genuinely nice guy, whenever he wanted to look serious, he looked intimidating as well. That made Renee even more nervous and a little scared of him, even though she knew he would not yell at her or act superiorly.

"I'm sorry," she was the first one to speak, "I did not mean to," she wanted to continue in apology but Roman interrupted her.

"It's okay. Dean told us it was because of him."

"What did he tell you exactly?" she started to worry and her mind filled up with overwhelming number of possibilities, from the furthest lies to deepest truths which even Dean did not know about so that we could not possibly talk about them but they preoccupied Renee anyway.

"Well, not much," he admitted. "But I know that whatever he's done, he feels guilty about it. He's hiding it well, but I'm sure he does."

"I doubt it," Renee opposed in a cold manner. "He sounded pretty assure of the rightest of his decision last time I talked to him. I don't see why he would suddenly see it otherwise."

"Why don't you tell me what is this all about?" Roman asked.

"I can't."

"I know, it's personal," he repeated Dean's words but it didn't stop him from trying to find out the source of Renee's ignorance of Dean. "Is it something you did? Or Dean? Or some secret that _I'm_ not supposed to know?" he guessed.

"No, it has nothing to do with you," she assured him. "It's my problem that Dean seemed to turn into his business, although it kind of doesn't concern him," she explained.

"Kind of?" Roman lingered on those two seemingly unimportant words of which he was sure that had a significant place in that sentence.

"It's not that simple," she responded although it really was, she just didn't want to tell him.

"Look, if you need privacy to openly speak about it, we can go somewhere else, away from all these people, but you're telling me what's going on, that's out of discussion." He felt it was necessary for him to put his foot down. She gave him a desperate look in order to soften him up but he kept being bossy about the matter. He wanted to know the truth and she had to realize there was no other way than tell him.

Now she had two possibilities as there seemed to be two different versions. One, the lie she made up to satisfy Dean, or more like kept alive since she wasn't really the one who came up with it and if it was up to her she would have scrapped it long time ago but in order to keep Dean away from second version, the real truth, the one only Seth knew, she had to go with it. And suddenly she was facing another important decision because it was inevitable that Roman need to be told one of those two possible secrets. As far as a right thing to do, it was supposed to be a simple decision. And Roman certainly did not present a threat if she told him what was really going on. But since he would not be the only one to know, Roman and Seth would gain an advantage and could easily gang up against her; they would be in control. On the other hand, if she was to lie once again, it would get her nowhere, if something, Roman might agree with Dean's advice to Renee not to hang out with Seth and that would mark the end of Seth's support in the whole being-in-love-with-Dean thing. But if telling Roman she had feelings for Seth was the scenario she would decide to go with, Roman was a smart guy after all, would he even believe it? Then again, would he believe she was in love Dean? There was only one way to find out.

"Alright," Renee resigned and cleaned her throat to explain everything to Roman. She decided she would tell him right there, in front of everybody; it might not have been a clever choice, but all those people were focused on their own conversations and their presence seemed to give Renee a comforting feeling, even an encouragement. She certainly did not feel as cornered as she would if she was alone with Roman in a quiet room, far away from civilization. "Last Monday, Dean and I sort of had an argument about _advice _he gave me. Well, it was not really an argument and it wasn't a piece of advice that he gave me either."

"I don't understand," Roman admitted. He certainly expected her to be more clear about it.

"Dean simply forbade me to do something." She quickly realized after a glance at Roman's face that this was not the right way to explain something. No matter if she wanted or not, she had to start from the beginning, or even better, with revealing the most important part, the source of every single problem she has been facing since the time she finally stopped denying and realized she wanted to be more than just Dean's friend.

"I'm in love with Dean," she made it as simple for Roman to understand as possible.


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm so tired but I made it! I kept my promise to upload the chapter today. And since this is certainly not the end of the scene, you can expect another chapter tomorrow (or it's actually today for me).**

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„You're in love with Dean," Roman repeated a sentence that he found hard to believe. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and with many questions in his eyes, looked at Renee who, in that rare moment, seemed to be calmer and better at handling her emotions than Roman. "How did that happen?" he was curious to know.

"Gradually, I believe," she responded half-jokingly.

Realizing the two of them were surrounded by so many people and there was certainly an important and private conversation ahead of them, Roman wondered if they shouldn't go somewhere quiet after all. "Are you sure you want to risk that somebody accidentally overhears what we're talking about?"

"You know, I actually don't mind staying here. I think that nobody is interested in our conversation and moreover, we can always stop talking and…" she kept explaining but was rudely interrupted by Roman.

"You're in love with Dean?" he raised his voice and at that point, Renee worried that somebody might hear them; it wouldn't be too difficult considering that Roman was almost shouting. Surprisingly, Renee stayed calm.

"Why are you freaking out?" she asked Roman who seemed pretty unstable, what was not a typical feature of his personality.

"I'm not freaking out," he tried to persuade her but the way he pronounced those words was not very convincing. "I just don't understand what the hell's going on," he continued. "You're in love with Dean," he kept repeating. Renee highly appreciated his change of tone. There was a change in his attitude as well. He smiled at a thought of the possible couple. Then he looked away; he subconsciously searched for Dean but failed to spot him. When he looked back at Renee, the smiled was gone, it was replaced with concern. "Oh," he exclaimed as soon as he realized that Renee and Dean's relationship was not perfect at the moment and it certainly didn't please Renee. "Oh!" Another realization came right afterwards. Until then he seemed to forget about the biggest obstacle, the fact that Dean was in a relationship. "So I guess he doesn't know," Roman assumed.

"Of course not. And there's no need for him to find out," she added making it clear she insisted that Roman would not tell him.

"So," he returned to the original topic of the talk, "why are you mad at him? I mean, is there any particular reason?"

"There is. I wouldn't be mad at him just because I love him and he doesn't love me back or because he has a girlfriend and I'm jealous of her," she felt she needed to state.

"I've never said that," Roman opposed.

"I know."

"So what happened?" he asked when she didn't seem to start explaining without a little push on his part.

"I'm tired of it. I can't take it anymore," she admitted and suddenly she lost her self-control. She's been trying hard to hold on and get over it, get over Dean, but with him around, permanently reminding her what she was doing wrong, treating her like a little child, giving her orders and acting like all her decisions were wring, it was incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to move on. He helped her see that she didn't want to be with such person though. She did not want to be around him and she avoided him because she couldn't stand if he was to give her another lecture. Simply said, she was tired of Dean's shit. She had just enough.

"Is it because of something Dean said? It's always something he says or does," he continued without waiting for Renee to answer his question. "He can't keep his mouth shut. So what was it this time?"

"In order for you to understand, you need to know that Seth knows everything."

"Wait, does he already know you love Dean?" he wanted to be sure.

Renee nodded and added a short explanation, "He sort of found out himself some time ago. I was not happy about it at first but then I realized it was a good thing. I was able to talk to him about it and he was really helpful."

"Was?" Roman noticed the past tense and believed she had a reason to use it.

"Well, apparently I'm not allowed to contact him anymore," she said angrily.

"Why would that be?" Roman laughed at the absurdity.

"Because Dean said so," she explained using ironic voice to emphasize how irritating it was.

"That's bullshit," he chose not to believe it, simply because it made no sense.

"There's another thing you need to know. Then it can be more possible for you to understand. "Dean believes that I'm in love with Seth," she told Roman and suddenly it all sounded like a plot from a soap opera.

"And how did that happen?" he wondered.

"I didn't tell him otherwise. Anyway," she decided to conclude it and make it sound more like a real problem. "Here's what's going on. Dean thinks I love Seth but since he's in a relationship he believes that it's too dangerous for us to hang out; that's why he _advised_ me to step aside and avoid him, to avoid temptation or something."

"But you don't love Seth," Roman was trying to keep track.

"Exactly. But since Dean doesn't know the truth, he finds it to be an issue that I keep hanging out with Seth and apparently it is enough to give him right to interfere."

"Oh, I see. He thinks he's doing the right thing but first, it's none of his business, and second, since he knows nothing about it, he's doing more harm than good."

Renee sadly nodded and after standing for a long time, she finally sat down on a chair. Roman followed her; he grabbed a chair and moved it next to Renee, then he sat on it. Renee picked up the cup of coffee that she had put on the table nearby so long ago that now it was cold. When she took a sip and found out it didn't taste good anymore, she put it down again and then she looked at Roman hoping that he would come up with a simple solution or advice to her problem. When he didn't say anything, she sighed sadly.

"I wish I could just have a week without seeing Dean. But no, that's not how it works," she ironized. "I need to be around with him all the time, I need to make interviews with him, I need to watch him do his job so that I can do mine. Dammit!" she exclaimed. "All I'm asking for is a permission to get him out of my mind," she revealed her concern. "Reality sucks. And now I can't even talk to Seth about it. And Dean's just happily walking by, with his ego, perfect career, new girlfriend, making decisions for me, acting like a God and turning my life into a misery. You know what? Maybe I should quit. That would solve my problems, wouldn't it? I could finally get more than a minute without my mind set on him. I like it here and I like working in wrestling industry but what wouldn't I do to make Dean happy. He wins. I can go back to Canada and interview hockey players or something."

"Stop!" Roman had to silence her. "Just stop! You're not going anywhere. You're staying right here. Dean has no right to act this way. I'm sure he doesn't even know what he's doing and he certainly has no idea how much you suffer because of him. Yes, he can be a pain in the ass sometimes and quite often he believes that he's the one to serve justice even outside the ring, no matter if it's his business or not, but I know he wouldn't be happy if you left. In fact, if he heard you want to leave, he would be the first to stop you. He cares a lot about you, I guarantee that. He cares about Seth too, I suppose that's why he tries to protect him from you, but he sometimes goes too far in what he considers a good deed on his part. He needs to be told what he's done. You know what? You stay here and I'm gonna talk to him right now," Roman took the initiative.

"No," Renee tried to stop him but her effort was useless. Also, she didn't really want to prevent him from talking to Dean; it was better to have somebody to do it than to keep suffering because of Dean's lack of true-fact knowledge.

"It'll be alright, babygirl," Roman assured Renee and headed towards the rest of The Shield.


	20. Chapter 20

**It's Dean's turn to come up with something that would help him make Renee forgive him. Because apparently, now that Roman knows, he won't let Dean go without apologizing to her and fixing the problem.**

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Seth and Dean, left alone and too easily distracted by all the noise, kept talking about unimportant and wrestling-unrelated things rather than discussing actual up-coming Raw and their role in it. They could always argument saying that it would be pointless since Roman was not there to hear them, therefore they would need to repeat everything they would come up with during his absence.

They somehow got so interested in the topic of their discussion that Roman surprised them by his presence. But although he managed to pull them out of the conversation, he didn't speak. He ignored Seth, he had nothing to tell him; but he kept staring at Dean giving him this uncomfortable and hateful look, showing his dominance and causing Dean to look weaker then he actually was. He used this look often in the ring when he needed to prove his leadership in the stable or to intimidate his opponents. Now he didn't really have to do either but he found this attitude useful in the current situation.

"So I guess you have found out what I've done," Dean assumed by simple glance at Roman's widen nostrils which made him look like a bull right before attack.

"Yes. And unless you fix it, you're in a big trouble," he warned him authoritatively.

"Well if you remember, I offered to go and talk to Renee but you were the one to stop me."

"I still agree with my decision. You can't do this over and over again. You mess up and then you use your charm or whatever to make that person forgive you. Words are not enough. Maybe it'd work out for you one more time but you're gonna screw up eventually, we can count on that," he made a remark to which Seth reacted with a smile which he tried to hide by looking down.

"I'm not gonna…," Dean wanted to defend himself but Roman wouldn't let him.

"You are," he insisted and his tone was very persuasive. "Now please let me finish. What you need to do is a lot more than trying to explain to her why you acted the way you did. If you do that, I'm pretty sure she'll turn away the moment you open your mouth. Of course, you can apologize to her verbally but please, and I cannot emphasize it enough, prepare your speech ahead. No improvising or it'll go terribly wrong. But the most important part is taking action. You have to do something. You have to prove her that you are her friend and you stand beside her, no matter what she does or what decision she makes."

"But," Dean found a pause to protest.

"No but," Roman wouldn't allow him to say anything. "There's no other option. You swallow your pride and apologize, big time."

"Are you seriously ordering me what to do?"

"Well, from what I've heard, you did the same thing with Renee," he reminded him. "If you thought that was okay, I don't see why it would be a problem now," he explained authoritatively.

Unlike Dean and Roman, Seth was quiet, he did not interfere with the conversation those two were having. It was none of his business, at least not officially. And moreover, he didn't feel the need to say anything because Roman had everything under control. Seth was enjoying him acting like a big boss and giving orders to Dean who was like a little child whose toy was being taken away. He knew Roman was right, he felt it the same way, but when Roman openly confronted him about it and told him his opinion, Dean couldn't show his weakness. He had to protest, it was in his nature to do so. It fascinated Seth to see it, and it was even more interesting since he knew all the facts. He realized that Renee has probably told Roman the truth, he could imagine how insistent Roman could be when he wanted to know something so badly, and also he was accurate about the facts so he had to receive all the information. The only thing Seth didn't know was the main topic of the discussion. Since Renee hasn't talked to Seth for a couple of days, he lost track and now he was sort of lost in trying to figure out what was going on this time. Of course, he couldn't ask the guys, at least not Dean. Maybe he could talk to Roman though after this was over. Or Renee, in case she finally decides to stop ignoring him.

Dean was urged to say _I hate when you're right_ to Roman but he successfully fought it away. Instead, he started thinking what could be that special gesture that would help him make Renee forgive him. The more he was thinking about his last conversation with her, the more he saw how inappropriate his behavior was. He was being a jerk indeed. He had no right to tell her what to do and he completely forgot that it must have been hard on her to deal with her feelings and try to make them go away. He believed that she did her best to stop her emotions and go numb but she couldn't deal with it by herself. And to make things even worse, Dean, instead of helping her, put her under pressure and acted judgmentally about it, although it certainly wasn't her fault. She wouldn't try to "get" those feelings, they simply happened.

"I get it," Dean declared. "I fucked up and now I need to repair what's broken," he spoke as an idea was starting to shape in his mind.

"That's right," Roman confirmed. "But remember…"

"No empty words," Dean finished instead of him. "No words at all. That's the ideal version, right?" he turned to Roman to get his opinion.

"Well, I didn't say…"

"I know," Dean interrupted him again. "But when I don't say anything, I cannot screw up again, now can I?" It sounded like a challenge but Dean didn't mean to actually try and see if it would be possible. He honestly believed that it would work that way.

Seth got interested in Dean's plan. He certainly sounded like he had a plan but he wouldn't tell them. Nobody could see what was it that he intended to do. But Seth hoped it wouldn't end in disaster. For everybody's sake, his deepest wish was for Dean to succeed. He didn't want to see Dean and Renee fighting or ignoring each other. He wanted them to make up and even though he really wished for them to get together, it wasn't possible at the moment, but they could still be friends and enjoy each other's presence rather than hope not to bump into each other and have only forced formal conversations in their workplace.

"So what is it that you're gonna do?" Roman wanted to know.

"Oh, you'll see," Dean kept it a secret. "But I can promise you I'll take your _advice_," he emphasized as he didn't want to use the word _order_ and make it look like he was just obeying Roman's commands. "I'll keep the bullshit level stabilized," he promised and smiled, "and under control by not saying anything."

"You're just gonna apologize without actually saying anything?" Roman wondered since it sounded like a joke to him. He didn't believe Dean could manage to do that.

"Yes. She'll forgive me without me saying _sorry_," he presented his vision of the plan to Roman and finally Seth, who both guys seemed to forget about. "No words mean nothing to get mad about," Dean continued. "Instead, I'll make her love me."


	21. Chapter 21

**I'm sorry it took me so long to send another chapter but finally here it is. Enjoy Dean's unusual apology, part one. Let me know what you think about it.**

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The arena was slowly emptying out but Renee took her time before coming back to the locker room to change and finally leave. It was a long day; she had a lot of work to do. She was tired, even exhausted, and she just wished to get back to the hotel and rest for a while. Of course, it was late and she had to wake up fairly early so she wouldn't get much sleep, even less, considering she had to prepare for the next show. All the travelling was, without doubt, wearying, but all people working for WWE knew what they were going into when they decided to sign the contract.

Renee longed for taking a long shower which would help her relax. She planned on doing so immediately; she has already spent a lot of time in the building, a few more minutes would not make any change. She believed she would find the locker room empty; she has seen most of her colleagues leave. But she didn't mind being alone, in some way it made her glad; she wasn't in a mood for conversation or small talk.

When she finally got there, she opened the door and reached for the light switch to get some light into the room but it didn't seem to work. She tried again and then one more time, but it was useless. She was pretty sure that it worked when she was in there the last time, just an hour ago or so. Now, it apparently didn't. It was irritating but she remembered she could turn the light on in the bathroom and then simply keep the door open. It wouldn't allow much light in, but it was something; still better than absolute darkness. Yet, she didn't want to spend a lot of time there. It was not scary, just unpleasant and a bit frustrating. It was enough, though, to make her feel worse, and she wished she would be in her bed already.

Something more than an hour later, she arrived to the hotel where all the Superstars and Divas were staying, and quickly headed towards the elevators to get to her floor. The halls were empty and the only people she saw where members of the hotel staff. They enthusiastically welcomed her back in the hotel, but she was too exhausted to put more effort into acting nicely to them, so all she did was to fake a smile. She walked briskly, that was what she put her remaining bits of energy into, in order to get into her room and curl up in bed. It wasn't really that cold but she needed to feel the warm and comfy duvet; even the thought of it was making her sleepier.

She searched her bag to find the card and open the door, and then picked it up, accompanied with a long yawn. She automatically covered her mouth with one hand and used the other one to grab the door handle. Her bag was hanging on her arm near the elbow, but when she got inside, she threw it carelessly on the floor. She headed for bed. On the way there, she lost both shoes, leaving them in the middle of the room, lying sideways, because she wasn't in a mood to place them tidily to the wall, next to the door, as she usually did. Then she took off her clothes, staying only in her underwear, as she didn't feel like getting her pajamas and putting them on. It seemed like too much work. It was already pretty late, and she couldn't lose another minute with something so unnecessary.

She fell asleep immediately. The bed was just too comfortable to allow her stay awake even thirty seconds longer. The next day, or actually the same day she went to bed, was going to be a busy one, even though she didn't necessarily have to wake up as early as usually; she could stay in bed for a little longer than in the last few days. And then, when she would be done with all the work in the evening, or at night, her day off would begin. That was something she was really looking forward to; she had no plans yet, but she was sure she would come up with something later. If not, a whole day in bed would do.

It seemed like morning came too soon, but it was already eight when this unexpected, but very pleasant, smell started to spread around the room and filled it completely, causing Renee to wake up. She stretched her arms and legs, while still in bed. A smile was forming on her face, due to indescribably good mood she woke up with. It was unusual since it was caused neither by a nice dream nor by a long sleep. Although she didn't get as much sleep as she wished to, she was truly happy and ready for another long day. But as soon as she started to be aware of reality, it all seemed wrong. How come she was smelling coffee when she was supposedly alone in the room?

She opened her eyes and it took her by surprise to see Dean standing next to her bed, holding a tray with something she couldn't see because it was too high for her to reach it by her sight. Renee reflexively started to panic.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "How did you get inside?" she wondered while trying to sound angry. She failed; the smirk on Dean's face made it impossible to be mad at him for letting himself in her room without her permission.

Dean kept smiling but he almost broke his rule of not speaking when he opened his mouth to point out to Renee that he was able to see her laced pink bra. He wanted to be a gentleman and looked slightly away, but Renee quickly noticed something was wrong when she saw him grinning. She totally forgot that she was wearing only her underwear. When she finally remembered, she pulled the blanket up to cover up her body, but she couldn't avoid blushing.

"What are you doing here?" she tried to stop him from thinking about her almost naked body. Her voice was soft and welcoming, she didn't sound angry at all. She was still a little embarrassed, maybe that was why.

Renee waited for him to answer, but instead he placed a tray with hot black coffee and maple syrup pancakes in front of her. She didn't understand what was going on, but she welcomed the idea of breakfast in bed. She needed to adjust the tray, though, and move it a little closer to her knees. Unfortunately, in order to do so, she had to get her arms out of the duvet, and it resulted in another underwear exposure. Renee sighed and angrily shook her head in disbelief of how dumb she was to not consider the consequences of her actions.

Luckily, Dean didn't come to make fun of her. He, in terms of being her friend, gladly tried to help her out. He looked around the room and as soon as he spotted a pistachio green cardigan hanging over a chair, he went and grabbed it, then returned to hand it to Renee.

"Thanks," she replied and swiftly put in on, being careful not to spill the coffee.

When she finally felt safe and gained back her confidence, she asked again, "Why are you here? And why did you bring me breakfast?"

He still didn't answer. There were things he wanted to say, and more and more he felt the need to explain some things to her, as well as tell her how sorry he was for his immature behavior. But in order to keep playing by the rules he set, he couldn't let out one word, not even a syllable.

She kept staring at him, she stopped hoping to get an answer, but it was a nice chance to see him smiling at her, not being mad or acting bossy for whatever reason. She couldn't look away and she couldn't stop smiling back at him; corners of her mouth were fixed in high position and her eyes were sparkling with delight.

Having a king size bed, there was enough space for Dean to sit down next to her to be closer to her and stop looking down at her, rather look in straight direction. He waited for her to start eating but she seemed to be focusing on his face and rather confused about what to do. He decided to take initiative then; he picked up fork and knife and started cutting the pancake. When he forked a piece of it, he added a slice of banana and lifted it to get it inside Renee's lovely mouth, since she didn't seem like doing it herself.

As soon as she realized what he was doing, he obediently opened up her mouth to allow him feed her but immediately protested, although quite lazily. "I can eat by myself," she said but her mouth was still full so he couldn't hear her clearly. Moreover, she had to cover her mouth so that the food wouldn't accidentally fall out. She noticed, however, that he, ignoring her last sentence, was about to grab another piece of fresh and warm pancake, so she had to stop him by taking the cutlery away from him. "I don't need you to feed me," she repeated, but gently enough so that he wouldn't think she was ungrateful. Hearing her, he let go and moved aside from the tray, looking a little disappointed. She didn't want to cause that; she appreciated what he was doing for her, for whatever reasons, and she hoped he knew that. But seeing his long face, no matter if he was faking it or not, she felt she had to do something about it. Therefore, this time she was the one to get some pancake and start feeding him. This way he would see that she cared and, as a bonus, he would hopefully understand how demeaning it is to be fed by another person. He didn't, though. He was truly enjoying Renee putting tasty food into his mouth. And he could see that she was enjoying it too. His plan was working. So far.


	22. Chapter 22

**This is the longest chapter so far, I hope you appreciate it. It follows the previous chapter and I think there'll be another one taking place right after this one. Apparently, it cannot end this way, can it? :) **

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Renee shared a long look with Dean. She slowly took the fork out of his mouth and placed it on the plate. Her eyes were still fixed on his. Her face was expressing confusion and a similar emotion was building on Dean's face. The fork slipped out of the plate but landed on the tray, making a noise which none of them seemed to pay attention to. Renee then picked up the tray and moved it away, placing it on the nightstand beside her bed. She realized breakfast didn't interest either Dean or her anymore. Hunger became a secondary need; lust a primary one. The tension was rising, and hit the high spot when Dean leaned toward her and for a slight moment switched from being fully focused on her eyes to reaching for her wavy hair which caught his attention. He craved her touching it and feeling its softness. A smile appeared on his face as soon as he inserted wisps of her blond hair between his fingers. He played with them for a while, getting lost in the moment, before releasing them and putting them carefully behind her ear. Then he moved his hand toward Renee's cheek and, while looking into her eyes again, caressed it tenderly.

The room was quiet. The loudest sound was that of their heartbeats. They forgot easily about the outside world. Nothing behind those walls existed. Reality was a distant memory, which was being replaced by the desires and the sight of the other person, staring back at them. There were right things to do and there were wrong ones as well, but the difference between them seemed to cease.

Saliva in their mouth was forming faster than usually, quickly filling the space and making it necessary for them to swallow. At the same time, the inside of their mouth was dry, though. There was plenty of contrast to spot, creating all those little battles, starting with rationality versus desire and ending with now or never. Essentially, they could be summed up in the ultimate the good versus the bad struggle.

In wasn't hard to notice that Dean was erasing the distance between them, step by step, and the chance for Renee to do something about it was closing. Dean positioned his right hand on the side of Renee's body, over the cardigan, but his hand quickly found a way to get underneath it. Renee shivered when his palm touched her soft skin. He wouldn't stay on that spot for long, though. First, he moved his hand up on top of Renee's shoulder to stop it from hiding underneath the piece of fabric. When he did that, his eyes lingered on the exposed shoulder for a while, his lips wishing to mark it with a kiss, while his brain was trying to stop him from doing it. His mind probably succeeded in convincing him that it was something he shouldn't do because he moved away from it, slipping his hand down and taking both the blanket and the only piece of clothing she was wearing away from her. He uncovered her body and exposed it to the naked eye, to his eye. Her skin started to glow with sweat as his big hand found its place on her hip.

For a second, she realized what was going on, and she tried to protest and stop him. She opened her mouth to end that tensed moment, but he noticed and he wouldn't let her do it. He placed his index finger on her mouth to prevent her from talking. His brain might have lost control over him, but he still remembered the game of silence and he kept it on. Moreover, he wanted her to join in, believing no words were necessary.

It surprised him that he was not confused. He was fascinated, though, both by the sight of Renee in her lingerie and himself. He was influenced a lot by what he was seeing. He was lost, but he didn't want to be found.

At first, Renee thought it was strange that Dean was the one to hush her. He was always the one to have something to say. This time he was quiet. He hasn't spoken since he entered her room or, more precisely, since he broke into it. It was a little creepy to see him but not to hear him. But gradually, the vow of silence that this unexpected and uninvited guest was keeping was becoming a less important problem. His actions were the main issue that bothered Renee. And she needed some explanation.

She attempted to interrupt his contemplation one more time. But first, she shook her head, believing it would help her to sort out her thoughts. Then she asked Dean, "What are you doing?" She was glad she succeeded in posing a question, but what would please her more was if he gave her an actual answer.

He kept looking at her. No words were coming out of his mouth, though. His pledge to stay quiet was not the matter this time. He, of course, knew what his original intentions were, but now they seemed blurred and even irrelevant. Why he came to her room in first place and why he brought her breakfast was not important. She wanted to know why he was looking at her that way, why his hand was still resting on her side and why he was so close to her, crossing the friendship line and staying far behind it. The truth was, he was interested in those answers just as much as she was, but he didn't know them. Therefore, he couldn't give them to her. It seemed to him that there were other reasons than her forgiving him behind his actions, reasons which could not be named.

„Dean?" she addressed him, hoping he would respond. Renee didn't know why he hasn't been speaking but, no matter what the cause of it was, she needed him to break the silence.

He heard her calling his name, but he paid little attention to it. She sounded urgent but that angelical voice of hers made it hard for him to focus on the meaning of her words. He listened to the charming melody but even if he wanted to, he couldn't wake up and regain enough consciousness for him to respond with a meaningful sentence.

"You can't do this," she whispered as she tried to be strong. She liked what he was doing; she liked it and she wished he would continue and finish what he started. She longed for him so much. But none of that mattered. The chemistry ceased to be important to her, rationality needed to take its place. She had to end the tensed moment before something could go wrong. And in order to do so, she had to be strict, even when she risked looking rather cold.

Dean didn't understand, but he obediently rested his hand on his knee, and he kept his body in a safe distance from hers. She had his attention as he waited for her to explain why he had to stop. She didn't seem to be bothered by his actions before; in fact, he would swear she was enjoying it. But if stopping was what she wanted from him, then he would respect her decision. He even stood up, just to make her happy, as he believed that distance was something she wanted.

She wondered whether he believed what he was doing was alright and not at all inappropriate or he forgot about the fact that he was in a relationship and his actions toward Renee could result in cheating. She wished to know which one it was but she certainly wouldn't ask him. She wasn't ready to face the truth. Even if she knew, she couldn't do anything about it, and more importantly, both scenarios would make her feel worse than ignorance. Knowing he was just being her friend and in his eyes all these touches and looks of desire were acceptable would put her in a strange position. On the other hand, learning that he had feelings for her as well would cause her pain, considering he had a girlfriend. In that case, it would hurt her to know that he had chosen somebody else over her. Therefore, she reconsidered her wish and realized she didn't really want to know what his intentions were.

Both Dean and Renee were waiting for the other person to start talking and come up with some explanation but the room continued to be filled up with silence. Until now, silence was in some way acceptable but suddenly it was becoming unbearable and awkward. The longer they waited, the worse it was. Looking at Dean's face, Renee should have realized he wouldn't say anything. He was rather confused, but the source of his confusion was neither his action nor sudden enchantment by Renee, instead, he failed to see what it was that Renee wanted from him. When he acted authoritatively and tried to give her advice, although in a rather commanding way, she got mad. Now that he was being gentle, he hoped she would forgive him, but she seemed unhappy as well. What did he have to do to satisfy her?

"Can you talk to me, please?" she asked when she got out of the bed and approached him. "I don't want you to think that I don't appreciate what you've done for me," she started when he did not respond. "It was actually really sweet that you brought me pancakes and coffee, but it should have ended there. Look, Dean, I don't know what happened then, but I know it was wrong. I hope you see it. And I would really much appreciate if you started talking because right now you're freaking me out. All I'm asking for is some explanation, so why don't tell me why you're acting this way?"

"Why don't _you_ tell me why _you're _acting this way?" he finally broke his quietness.

"What?" she couldn't hide that his request surprised her. He had a suspicion. Renee got nervous, she felt cornered by him. Now she wished he would stay quiet instead.

"Nothing I do is good enough," he kept talking.

She swallowed with difficulty and sighed deeply. "That's not true," she opposed.

"I thought that breakfast in bed would be a nice surprise. I thought you would forgive me for my earlier childish behavior, but you keep pushing me away," he expressed his thoughts. "I came to apologize, and for a second I thought I was doing well but then you started being hostile. And I'm sorry, but I don't really see where I went wrong, so why don't you tell me?" he asked as he sincerely wanted to know.

"Well…," she tried to find the right words, but there seemed to be none. She sighed. She knew he was probably thinking that _her_ behavior was irrational now, but she couldn't do anything about it. She felt desperate and she longed for being able to tell him the truth. "You don't understand," she told him.

"You're damn right I don't," he replied. "I wanted to prove to you that I am your friend, and I would do anything for you, I would support you in your decisions, but seemingly you're not interested. You don't care that I try to make it up to you. You know, I got you tickets to a hockey game tonight. I asked Stephanie to give us a night off so that we could go to see your favorite team play, but it was useless, wasn't it?" He continued before Renee could interrupt him, "I made a pledge to myself not to speak, to use only actions to make you forgive me, believing I would screw up if I said something spontaneous, but either I fucked up even without talking or it doesn't matter to you. Or, there's a third option, _I_ don't matter to you."

"That's not true, Dean," she said convincingly in a rather loud voice. She tried to make him believe she cared about him, a lot, but apparently she needed to do more to prove it to him. Unfortunately, she didn't know how.

Dean faked a smile and then he replied, "Tell me when you'll know what you want." He put his hand into his pocket, pulled out two tickets and handed them to Renee. He looked at her one more time before leaving her alone.


	23. Chapter 23

Dean returned to his room. There was nobody in sight but even if there was, he didn't care. He let his body fall freely on the undone bed behind him. It wasn't his bed, but that was of no importance to him.

„Fuck!" he exclaimed.

He stared at the ceiling. There was nothing interesting on it, but it gave him opportunity not to get distracted from his thoughts. In order to try and find the part where it went wrong, he replayed the scene he witnessed and was a main actor in. He analyzed it to find a person to blame. Was it him again? Or was it Renee's fault this time? Could it be avoided or was it necessary to turn such a nice moment into a conflict? When he thought about it, he realized that there wasn't really a breaking point. There wasn't a real argument either. It seemed to him that Renee simply stopped enjoying his presence. That was something sudden. She failed to explain to him why there was a change in her behavior. But, without doubt, she expected him to make it clear what his intentions were as well.

He didn't know. Maybe his behavior was unusual, and maybe his actions were not typical of him, but they expressed his desires. He acted purely instinctively. This time only, there was no thinking, impulses got the better of him. Was that the problem? Was he supposed to think twice and consider wisely if he should do what he wished to?

„You're lying on my bed!" Roman welcomed him back.

Dean didn't notice Roman coming out of the bathroom. Either Roman was quiet in his walking and wiping his long hair, or, in a much more plausible way, he simply got too focused on his mind. It was quite unusual of Dean to get lost in his thoughts, but this certainly was one of those rare moments.

„I'm sorry," Dean apologized but didn't care enough to flee his mate's bed.

Roman could start to argue with him or use raw force, his powerhouse element, to make him leave, but instead he realized that something was bothering his colleague and this was the right time for him to be a friend and try to help him out.

"What's the matter?" Roman asked as he joined Dean on the bed.

It seemed as if Dean went back to not talking, but he just didn't have an answer to Roman's question.

"You went over to Renee's, didn't you?" Roman remembered Dean's plans and started to suspect that something happen between them, probably not in a good way.

"Yeah," he replied casually.

"Did your whole I'm-not-going-to-speak thing fell apart?" Roman couldn't fight the urge of making an innocent joke. "Sorry," he apologized immediately after seeing Dean wasn't in mood for joking. He wanted to ask him if he did something wrong, if he screwed up again, but that wouldn't make things better. After that, there would be a big chance that Dean wouldn't want to talk to Roman at all. He would probably simply walk away. "What happened?" he finally constructed an adequate question.

Dean put both his hands over his face and stretched his skin. He closed his eyes to press his eyelids, and then he sighed heavily. "I don't know," he replied and desperately looked at Roman sitting next to him.

"I thought you had it all thought out," Roman uttered quietly.

"Me too. I mean, I had."

"So?" the Samoan hoped to get more information.

"I've got no idea what went wrong. But I'm pretty sure I did everything right," he admitted.

"Why don't you tell me what happened there? Maybe then I can help you to find out why you're desperately staring at the ceiling right now."

"Alright," Dean accepted his offer and sat up to stop looking weak and inferior to Roman. "I went there. I got inside without her noticing, and brought her some breakfast."

"That sounds good," he applauded Dean's idea of how to make a woman forgive you.

"I guess the smell of coffee woke her up, but although it surprised her to see me in there, she didn't seem mad. Then I started feeding her."

"You what?" Roman couldn't believe his ears.

"It wasn't as bad as it sounds," Dean informed him. "It was actually pretty sweet and I'm sure she liked it. She fed me as well," Dean continued but that only added confusion on Roman's face. He started to suspect the source of the problem, although, at that point neither Dean nor Renee found it wrong.

"Go on," he supported him in continuing. He was eager to hear more.

"I acted gently toward her. I kept doing all those small gestures, like looking in her eyes, playing with her hair, touching her exposed skin…"

At that moment, Roman felt like face-palming himself and wondered whether Dean was kidding or blind.

"Why?" Roman asked.

"Well, to be nice. To show her I am her friend."

"Yeah, because that's what friends do," he ironized. He kept looking at Dean in disbelief. "You've got a girlfriend," he reminded him.

"I know," Dean replied as if it was no big deal. "Nothing happened between me and Renee. Moreover, she's in love Seth."

Roman sighed and put his head in his hands. He wished there were no more lies and secrets. He knew they wouldn't be facing all those problems if Renee told Dean that he was the one she loved. And after hearing what Dean was doing when he was with Renee, it was sort of clear that Dean had to feel something toward Renee. No sane man would act that way if he wasn't just joking.

"Sure she does," Roman agreed, against his will. He had to play along; this decision wasn't up to him to make. "But even though, I believe that she might have considered your actions inappropriate," Roman said in most clear way possible without sounding judgmental.

"So it was my fault?" Dean guessed, but before Roman could answer him, there was a knock on the door.

Roman got up, welcoming the disruption and a chance to avoid having to give Dean a straightforward explanation as why what he did was not correct.

"Hey, Renee." He was glad it was her. Now she could talk to Dean instead of him. Roman took advantage of the situation and quickly disappeared, leaving the two of them alone.

Renee watched Roman leave and then moved toward Dean. She sat down on the bed beside him and before he could say anything, she whispered, "I am sorry."

It surprised Dean to hear her say those words. "I thought I was the one who screw up," he admitted.

"No. Not this time. You did everything right. Kind of," she added, but with a smile on her face. "Maybe you went a little too far," she admitted, "but you were doing it for noble reasons. That counts." He smiled at her to encourage her to continue. He even took her hand into his. "I freaked out. And I'm sorry I made you think I don't care about you. The truth is, I really do. I appreciate what you're doing for me. And sure, there are things you can't understand, but that doesn't give me right to push you away."

"If something troubles you, I wanna help you. You can count on me," he reminded her.

"Thank you," she told him. Then she took out the tickets he gave her earlier and pointed at them. "So are you coming with me?" she asked and hoped he would say yes.

He nodded and was glad that she allowed him to be there for her. In a thankful gesture, he pressed her hand and let her know, "I'll help you get over Seth."

Renee started laughing for reasons he could not understand. "Yeah, you are certainly the one to do that," she uttered but welcomed his offer.


	24. Chapter 24

„You're still here," Dean mumbled. He was surprised to see her next to him. He assumed that by the time he wakes up, she would be gone. He was glad that he was wrong and she stayed.

„Of course I am here. I wouldn't leave you," she replied in a way that showed him a lot of care on her side.

He remembered the last night. „That was so not how it was supposed to be." He had everything planned, to a slightest detail. Yet, all was scattered by something that none of them could expect to happen.

„Dean," she gently interrupted him, and looked at him with love in her eyes. „It was perfect," she continued. "You did everything right. I enjoyed last night."

"I doubt you enjoyed having to take care of me," he opposed. He was angry with himself. Deep inside he knew he couldn't see it coming or prevent it, and there was really nothing to do about it, but he wanted to give her everything. She deserved a magical evening, and it ended in such a disaster.

"I didn't mind," she broke the silence after a while. She thought about it; maybe it wasn't perfect, but she wouldn't ask for more. The time they have spent together was different to when they were working, surrounded by people who asked them to be professional and take it seriously. In the backstage, in the ring, even in the hotel, there was no place for them to act naturally and be themselves. But as soon as they left the arena and there was no sight of their colleagues, they could joke around and stop taking life seriously for a moment. Rarely she saw Dean being so kind and thoughtful; it was probably because there was no reason to show off and no people to see him and judge him by his behavior. There was only person he cared about at that moment, and that was Renee.

"Right," he replied ironically.

Seeing Dean desperate somehow made Renee happy. It was not because she was cruel or liked seeing him in pain. Instead, she realized that he thought what he did was not good enough and that she perhaps deserved more. By his behavior, Dean was proving to Renee that he cared about her. She didn't know if showing it was intentional or not, but it resulted in a big, honest smile on her face.

"I'm sorry," he felt the need to say. He probably didn't notice that Renee was not mad at him or anything, or he believed that she was faking her good mood.

"See, now that's something I don't understand," she paid attention to his words and thought about them. "You apologize to me for something you couldn't affect," she explained. "But earlier, when I was mad at you and you were supposed to say that you were sorry, it was a problem."

"You didn't like my way of saying sorry?" he focused on unimportant part.

"I've never said that. The breakfast was a good idea, the match was amazing, and the restaurant was…," she stopped talking.

"Not the best choice I have made," Dean concluded.

"Well, I'm just glad I didn't order salmon." She smiled when Dean seemed to approve of it. He looked much better now than when they returned from their night out. But he really appreciated that Renee stayed up with him for most part of the night and took such a good care of him when he felt like shit. Dean remembered what Renee did for him and telepathically thanked her for that.

"What I'm saying is…," Renee returned to the original topic and continued, "You have made all those things so that I would forgive you, and, well, it worked, but they didn't really say sorry. They were saying Renee, please, don't be mad at me," she used the best way possible to explain it to him. "While all I really wanted to hear from you were those three words."

Dean understood and he knew he was supposed to say them, but he wanted to do more than that. He felt that if he used words only, it wouldn't be any different from anything else he says. He talks a lot, and therefore he often has to apologize; but since he does it so often, it somehow has lost its importance. Those three words that she wanted to hear were not special to him, but she was. That meant he had to find something else to use as the means of communication and way of achieving her forgiveness… And then there was Roman who advised him to do more than just saying he was sorry.

"Renee," he called her name, and invited her to sit next to him on the bed. "I had no right to tell you what to do and forbid you to see Seth. I also failed at being a good friend and give you some real advice and, most importantly, support." He took a moment to think and organize his thoughts before saying something inappropriate and screwing up again. "I should have act my age and I promise that, from now on, I will never let you down again. I will never be a jerk to you. And I will always," he paused as he didn't know how to go on. He realized that, once again, he was losing track of what he was saying and the words he was producing were becoming automatic, without him thinking about their real meaning. "I will always," he repeated and looked into her beautiful eyes with a smirk on his face. She responded with a smile; one that gave him a warm, home-like feeling. Now he knew how to finish that sentence. "I will always do my best to keep this smile on." He then rose from the bed to touch her soft lips, which seemed so distant at first. "I'm sorry," he finally said; and to show he really meant it, he erased his smile but kept his eyes locked on hers.

She chuckled when she, after all that time, heard him say it. It was also pleasing to see that he didn't hesitate and didn't try to downplay the importance of the situation.

"Now it's your turn," he interrupted her day-dreaming.

"What?" she didn't understand as she has lost the focus.

"It's your turn to forgive me. I mean, if you feel like doing it," he tried to sound casual.

"Before I do that," she first let him know she would forgive him, eventually, "I wonder why you even acted that way in the first place."

Dean didn't really know why, but he had a theory. He would be lying if he said that he hasn't thought about it, but the solution he came up with was too absurd.

"Okay, I might have an explanation but it's really stupid, so, please, don't laugh."

"I promise," she responded and got curious.

"It's ridiculous," he repeated so that she wouldn't consider it an important factor in his behavior. "I saw you the other day; actually, it was the night I told you to stay away from Seth. I remember walking into the room where Seth, Roman, and I usually hang out, and you were there, lying on the couch, sleeping. I spent there a couple of minutes just watching you and kept thinking," Dean sighed before revealing to Renee, "I knew Seth was there with you earlier and it made me wonder. Why him? I mean, I know, he is a great wrestler and an amazing guy, great friend, funny, understanding, loyal, and everything. I know that he's perfect, but still, I couldn't believe it. And I didn't want to admit that he was better than me. I was posing myself the same question over and over again. Why him, and why not me?" Dean found himself getting lost in his thoughts. He speculated and tried to find an answer to the question he has been asking himself for a few weeks.

After a while he realized he was talking to Renee, not to himself, and she was probably laughing at him. When he started to focus and looked at her, he saw that she wasn't. Her face was serious. "Anyway," Dean came to a conclusion, "as stupid as it sounds, I might have got a little jealous."


	25. Chapter 25

**And so the moment of truth continues...**

* * *

Those words opened Renee's eyes. She now saw what has been clear to Roman and Seth for a while, that Dean had feelings for Renee just as she had for him. She realized if she decided to kiss him, he wouldn't try to stop her. Maybe he would think it's strange at first, but eventually he would realize it is right and it's what both of them want. But it amazed Renee that Dean admitted he was jealous. It was untypical of him and not thought-through very well. Why would he say it? Did he want to give her a hint? Was he not aware of what it meant? Was he really so blind that he didn't understand he wanted to be with her? Renee expected the latter to be true. If he actually was aware of his feelings, he would either be honest about them or lie; the option Renee has chosen.

„Why? Why were you jealous?" Renee asked to make him realize the truth. She couldn't stop smiling; she was happy. It suddenly all seemed so easy. It wasn't really, there were many problems, but none of them could bother Renee at the moment. It didn't feel complicated at all.

„I don't know," he said and it sounded like a denial. He wasn't pleased with the reality which seemed to him too confusing and difficult to process. „I guess," he pronounced in a hesitant voice. He decided to continue and see where his thinking would lead him, „I wanted you to notice me and somehow find good qualities in me and..." He let the sentence be unfinished.

Renee knew it would not be clever to force him into talking, especially when she could easily recognise his lowered confidence and insecurity. She needed to take initiative and make him feel comfortable instead.

He moved away from her, but she came closer, erasing the distance which Dean created. She wouldn't let him escape, but she made sure not to scare him either. Renee needed to be patient with him, as he was in a new situation which he had problems dealing with.

"What's going on?" she asked carefully, to make him speak about his problems and not to hide himself from her. She was being gentle and friendly, trying to comfort him with her smile.

"You are an amazing girl, Renee," he found the courage to express his mind. "You don't deserve to be unhappy." Dean somehow managed to get away from the uncomfortable topic and change the direction of the conversation. He made Renee lose focus on him and his issues.

Undoubtedly, it surprised Renee to hear him say that. Unhappy? She didn't feel unhappy at all. But she should, she was supposed it. It seemed as if Renee forgot she was the one suffering in this situation. She was hiding her feelings; she was being forced to forget about them because Dean was in a relationship. She was alone. Yet somehow her mind would keep her believing that it would change. Maybe that was why sadness was not an emotion describing her mood.

"I'm not sad," she opposed and she made it look like she really meant it. She didn't need to try hard; she really didn't feel that way.

"I know I've said it before," Dean continued, ignoring Renee's statement, "but you should, you have to, forget about Seth. This time, it's not a command. I am being your friend, somebody who cares a lot about you and want you to be happy."

"I am," she emphasized.

"But you know that you will never be with Seth, don't you?" he didn't understand her good mood.

"I know," she responded confidently.

"You need to let those feelings for him go."

"That'll be easy," Renee suddenly admitted what really surprised and confused Dean. She decided to take a different direction. The original denial was not working.

"How come?" He wondered.

"To be honest, there are none. I've never wanted to be with Seth." Renee decided it was the right time to reveal the truth to Dean. There was no point in lying anymore. It has only made things worse. Dean worried for nothing. He tried to help and come up with a solution to her problem, but he couldn't, as long as she kept hiding the truth from him. That was why it all needed to stop.

"I don't understand," Dean sighed.

Renee felt ready. She somehow managed to gather all the confidence she needed to reveal her true intentions. She wanted to finally be able to have a meaningful conversation with Dean, with no more lies, no more denial. They needed to explain to each other what they really wanted and together find a way to fulfil their desires. The time has come.

A little disturbance proved to be enough to ruin their moment of truth. When they heard a knock on the door, they could not ignore it. Renee sighed in despair but, at the same time, she felt relieved. Due to that casual sound, she realized what would happen. He would know the truth. Dean would know she was in love with him. She knew that was going to happen, but somehow she didn't really know; her mind kept her in ignorance of reality and prevented her from thinking about the consequences of her actions. It was so close but the possible disaster has been averted.

Dean, on the other, didn't have a clue what might have happened. He was still too confused to focus. He was scared to try to come up with some theory which would explain it all. He needed more time to absorb the new information.

Since Dean didn't really pay much attention to the repeated knocking, Renee had to get up and see who the saviour and trespasser was.

She opened the door but she didn't recognize the person standing in front of her. That round childish face belonging to a grown-up woman was unfamiliar to Renee.

"Hi, you must be Renee," the redhead said cheerfully and then let herself in.

"Hi, sweetie," she addressed Dean lying in bed while Renee was still shockingly standing beside the door. It took her a while to close it and realize what was going on. When she did, she got really uncomfortable and it felt too awkward to be there.

When the girl, who was apparently Dean's girlfriend, kissed Dean and he welcomed her as well, she turned back to Renee as to get to know each other better.

"I'm Cassie," she said while Renee tried hard to look casual and keep smiling. She knew she was supposed to respond, say something, anything, but her brain was producing only words she definitely couldn't use, for they were inappropriate and showing her discomfort. Fortunately, this Cassie person didn't seem to need somebody else to join her in the conversation; she was doing fine on her own with all her enthusiasm. One thing that Renee really appreciated was that she seemed like the kind of person who trusted others and had no suspicion whatsoever. "Thanks for taking such a great care of him," she spoke. When she noticed Renee's confusion, she explained, "I've heard about his food-poisoning incident."

"Oh," was the only syllable that came out of Renee's mouth.

"Still, you didn't have to come," Dean joined what could hardly be called a dialogue.

Cassie lovingly looked back at him and, keeping her good mood, she said, "I needed to see that you are fine. Well, I needed to see you in general," she corrected herself. "I've really missed you." It sounded inappropriate to say those things in front of Renee, but it probably wasn't because Cassie wanted to show her dominance and play vicious games with Renee; it simply was the way she was, caring, cheerful, and spontaneous.

"Also," Cassie went on, while Renee wondered why she was still there. It was neither pleasant nor appropriate. She should have given them privacy, but she couldn't force her legs to move. "I've got some news." When she pronounced those words, it was the first time since she entered that she was not smiling. Her face finally got serious, but it made Dean worry.

"Good or bad news?" he asked as he made his way out of the bed and approached his girlfriend.

"That depends," she responded, and at that moment Renee realized she couldn't stay any longer. No matter what that conversation would be about, it was none of her business; and quite honestly, she didn't want to know.


	26. Chapter 26

**To avoid any confusion, there are three parts in this chapter and they're not in a chronological order. But there was a reason to place them in this order and I hope you will enjoy it anyway :) Also, let me know if you think it was good or bad news.**

* * *

Dean stormed out of the room. Only when he left, he realized how far-reaching the situation was. He hasn't really thought about it until then. And when it came to him, he needed to escape, to get away from it. It made him feel a little suffocating. It came too soon. They've been together only for something more than a month. The things were fine as they were, he didn't want anything to change. Or, actually, he did. Just in a different way.

His girlfriend was still inside; she had no intentions of following him. He said he would come back, after all. The discussion was not over yet. She thought it would go differently. She made her point clear; no ambiguity could arise from her talk, so why did he seem confused? Why didn't he tell her his genuine opinion right away? Why did he leave and, maybe unconsciously, make her feel guilty? She didn't have much chance to look him in the eye and try to find out what he was thinking; he left almost immediately. Actually, after she broke the news to him, he stayed sitting on the side of the bed for short time, then he stood up and, without a sufficient explanation, left the room.

But getting away from the crime scene didn't suffice. He went farther. Only when he found himself standing on the street in front of a highway, he stopped from escaping. He needed to sort out his priorities and decide what it was that he wanted. It wasn't too late to make a decision, he still had a choice. But before he could choose which road to take, he needed to know all the facts. Only then he could decide whether what Cassie told him was good or bad news. He took a deep breath and turned around. But he didn't return to his room. He went somewhere else.

* * *

Renee left. It was time for Dean to pay attention to his girlfriend, but he kept staring at the door. It was not fully closed. It didn't seem to bother Cassie, yet Dean wondered why Renee left it open. It probably wasn't intentional; she simply didn't use enough strength to close it, and then she didn't notice there was a gap between the door and the wall. When she stepped out of the room, she didn't look back to be able to see it, but kept walking away. She wanted to get away from there.

Dean stood up and slowly walked towards the door. Then he looked outside, as if he hoped to find somebody there. Nobody was in sight. Dean sensed that something was wrong. There were no real hints, but everything felt out of place to him. When he returned inside and finally got the door closed, he saw Cassie sitting on the bed, looking back at him, trying to figure out what caused his strange behavior.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as if she was the one whose actions were odd.

"Yeah," she replied. She decided not to ask him any questions and focus on the topic she had in mind instead. She planned everything ahead. She prepared her argument well, since she knew that Dean was a challenging opponent in talking. She was decent, but she realized that if they ever got into a fight, she had no chance of winning. Fortunately, this conversation could not result in an argument. At least that was her opinion.

"I've got a job offer," she went straight to the main point.

Dean's heart started to beat faster. His mind was a little slow in receiving and evaluating the new information but his reflexes worked well. Until now, there was an unnecessary distance between the two of them, created by Dean standing beside the wall. He started walking and stopped only in front of Cassie. Then he sat down and faced her, getting ready for what she was about to say, for he knew there was more to come.

"I know we haven't been a couple for long," she started, "so it would be fair if I made the decision on my own, but I believe I should give you a chance to have a say, because it involves you as well. The way I see it, what we have is kind of a long-distance relationship and it certainly has its ups and downs. It works but it doesn't feel very serious." She made a pause to see if he had something to say to that. He didn't seem to want to add anything, so she went on, "Now there's a chance to change it. If I take the job, it can help us evolve as a couple, or it can destroy our relationship," she listed the possibilities.

"What do you think?" he surprised her with a question, but he didn't really pay attention to it or anticipated her answer.

"I think it'll get us to a new level," she admitted and hoped he would agree.

"So where is it?" he wanted to know.

She smiled and then replied, "In Vegas."

"In Vegas…," he repeated but those words made no sense to him. His mind was refusing to accept the whole conversation and take part in it. He seemed absent. He had only a blurred idea of what was going on. "In Vegas…," he pronounced the words again, hoping their meaning would stop hiding from him. But something inside of him kept rejecting everything he received by his senses.

"Yes…" Cassie got ready to explain why it was a good thing. "I know it'd be different to live in the same city, but when you travel so much, we don't get to see each other often and it's quite annoying, to be honest. This is a great opportunity to spend more time together. I mean, I can refuse the offer, but it seems to me that it would be stupid, since it could actually help our situation. That way, we could have an actual relationship, with everything," she said and winked at him. "So what do you think? I should accept it, shouldn't I?" she asked hesitantly and hoped to find support in him. But he was different than usual; he was quiet, and he was really hard to read.

He sat quietly next to her, absently looking at the door. After a few seconds, he remembered, though, that she posed him a question. She wanted to know what he was thinking, if he considered it to be good news. And more importantly, whether he wanted to spend all his free time with her or not.

"Yeah," he replied slowly, which made his answer sound hesitant. Two different thinking processes were going on his mind. One was being suppressed and viewed as not so important, but still quite upsetting and influential since it fuelled the other one. The one that kept his mind busy, thinking and rethinking, trying to find a reason why was it so.

Suddenly he stood up, mumbled, "I'll be back," and then he was gone.

* * *

He headed back to the hotel, but to a different room. He took an elevator to the eighth floor, and then he turned right to find the room number 16. He knocked twice and waited anxiously to get inside.

"That was fast," she noted.

Dean did not respond to that; he walked farther inside and found himself a comfortable chair to sit in. For about five seconds, he simply stared at her. She was confused, but he didn't care to explain. Not yet. He wanted to observe first. He wanted to make sure his assumptions were correct. He thought about it again. He revised all the hints and finally came to a conclusion. There could be no doubts.

A deep sigh came out of his mouth as he let his head fall backwards. A smile formed on his face, but it soon grew into a laugh. For once, it was nice to be the one in knowledge. And while his behavior might have seemed strange and unreasonable to her, it made perfect sense to him. This time he knew exactly what was going on. He eagerly stood up and looked at her again.

"It's me, isn't it?" he asked her a simple question. He didn't need an answer, though, he knew he was right.

"What?" she pretended not to know what he was talking about, but her fast heartbeat failed her effort.

"You love me," he explained with a smile on his face. "You said it's never been Seth, so it must be me. You have feelings for me. Am I right, Renee?"


	27. Chapter 27

„Wow," Dean exclaimed. By the reaction on Renee's face he could easily see that his assumption was right, even though she didn't admit it. „You know, if you told me before, we would avoid all those embarrassing moments and fights we've been having lately. But now I understand why you were mad at me. I was wrong to judge you for spending time with Seth. Hey," Dean suddenly realized, "does he know?" he wondered, but soon came to a conclusion without Renee's help. "Of course he does. Doesn't he? I bet Roman knows as well. Hell, is there anybody else who knows the truth? Am I the only who didn't have a clue?" Those questions sounded like they were meant to attack Renee, they indeed made her feel guilty, but in reality, Dean was just expressing his surprise; he meant no harm to her.

"I'm sorry," Renee apologized, believing it was the right thing to do and exactly what he wanted from her.

"Hey," he approached her, looking at her thoughtfully, aiming at destroying her sad look. "I'm not blaming you. I am sure you had your reasons to keep it from me. But I'm glad I know; although I'd prefer hearing it from you." He said it as a challenge for her to stop hiding from reality and admit the truth.

Although with little confidence, she finally told him, "I have feelings for you. I do, but does it even matter? Look, let's be honest here, what the does the fact that you know really change? You're in a relationship." Dean showed his agreement by hesitant nodding. "You care for your girlfriend, don't you?" she asked him.

"I do," he replied, just as she expected. She kept moving her sight to avoid having an eye contact with him but he finally found her and made her look at him. "But I care about you, too," he added and made sure to sound persuasive enough. He wanted her to believe him.

Hearing those words pleased her, but she didn't want to let that show. His presence, though, as much as his attitude, made her heart race. She wished to see a happy ending, but her brain kept coming up with excuses, trying to make her see it would never happen for them.

"What does it mean?" she wanted to know.

He knew that sentence made sense in the context, but he started laughing at how stupid it sounded. Of course, she didn't really need an explanation as to what those words meant, rather a confirmation that him caring about her wasn't an empty phrase.

Dean sighed. Then he turned to Renee with a command, "Come here." He took her hand and pulled it toward him. He made her sit down, but when she was sitting on the chair, he changed his mind. Floor seemed like a much more pleasant place to sit to him and he asked Renee to accompany him. When both of them found a comfort spot on the soft carpet, he started, "Tell me, Renee, how long have you known how you feel about me?"

"Well," she thought about it, "a few weeks."

"Okay," he accepted and evaluated the new information. "You have had a lot of time to think about it, haven't you?"

"I guess," she replied.

"Now imagine my situation. You want me to be honest? I've got no idea what it means," he admitted. "You're right, I'm in a relationship, and I like Cassie a lot. Yet, I'm here. I don't want you to think that you mean nothing to me. But, at this point, I cannot say I'm done with Cassie, either. Frankly, I'm confused. I don't know what I want."

"Dean," Renee stopped him. "I don't ask you to decide. I'm not going to force into something you're not sure about. Yes, I may be in love with you, but, ultimately, I want you to be happy. If she's the one that makes you happy, than I'm happy," she said but it was hard to believe her.

"Really?" Dean responded and, although he didn't mean to, he sounded a lot like the Miz. When he realized that, he just went along with it. "Oh, really…" A sarcastic tone was suitable. "I don't buy it. Why?" he asked. "If you really have feelings for me, why would just give up that easily? If you want me, fight for me," he said as if it was no big deal and an easy thing to do. The challenge he proposed made him happy inside. The idea of her trying to persuade him she should be the one to be with was appealing.

"Fight for you?" she laughed. "Dean, this is real life, not wrestling. Sometimes it's better to give up than to spend so much time getting beat up and losing in the end," she ended with little enthusiasm left in her. She stood up and looked away; the sight of him was getting painful. It was reminding her what she would be giving up.

"So you're not going to do anything about it?" he couldn't believe it.

"There's nothing I can do. I mean, you want me to fight? But what would I be fighting for?" she asked. "What is this ultimate prize?"

"Well," he paused, "me." Dean smiled. Renee had to smile as well, although she didn't consider it particularly funny.

"That's nice. But as long as you don't feel the same as I do, it means nothing. It's funny," she laughed. "When I was imagining this scene, I thought it would simple. Like boom! And there he is, and he loves you, too. But he doesn't," she sighed.

"Maybe he does," Dean made her believe it may not be over yet. "Maybe he just doesn't know it."

"Then why don't we give him some time so that he can realize what he really wants. No pressure," she added as casually as she could.

"So…," he wondered, "is that it? Several weeks you hide what you feel from me," he intentionally avoided mentioning that she loved him, "and when I finally find out, nothing changes?" he asked as if she had an answer to that question.

"It's strange," she added, "but I guess that's how it is."

"That doesn't seem right."

"I didn't think it would be like this, either. I thought that when you'd finally know, every single problem would be mystically solved. Now it seems like there are more problems than before." Dean couldn't but agree with it. "Yet, I feel relieved. The fact that there is nothing more I can do is somewhat satisfying."

"Come on," Dean sighed, "there is always something you can do. "

"You're right," she agreed with him this time. "But I'm not going to do it," she said believing she knew exactly what he meant. "As I said, as long as you're with her, I'm not going to interfere. But, please, if you think, or if at some point you realize that there's no chance you and I can ever be together, let me know, so that I can move on."

"What if I realize that you are the one I should be with?"

Renee sighed before attempting to explain to him what is wrong with that question. "Should…," she repeated. "That's not the right word to use. Do you know that Bruno Mars's song _Marry you_?" she suddenly asked him. "He sings _I think I want to marry you_. But you don't want to hear somebody say they _think_ that they want to marry you. You want them to be sure. And there's the exactly same issue with your question. What happens, what should you do, when you realize you _should_ be with me? I don't care about that. I don't want you to be with me just because it's better and a right thing to do. I want you to want it. So when you'll _want_ to be with me, that's when you should take action."

"You're really not making this simpler," he concluded.

"We're adults, Dean. We need to think things through before doing something. We work together," she reminded him. "If we get together and it doesn't work out, we'll have to deal with the consequences. That's why I want you to be sure and avoid making quick, spontaneous decisions."

"Okay," he replied, understanding her reasons, but unhappy with the results.


	28. Chapter 28

The conversation was over. There was nothing more to say at the moment, although they came to no conclusion. Dean needed to go back to his room and finish the discussion with Cassie, but halfway there, he bumped into Seth.

"Hey, I've been looking for you," Seth told Dean. "I went into your room, but you weren't there. At least I got to know your girlfriend," he noted. "She seems nice."

"She is," Dean uttered, not giving it any importance.

"It was great to finally see her; I started thinking that you made her up."

"Why would I do that?" Dean asked.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, and then changed the topic. "I thought we were supposed to meet up downstairs and go to the gym," he reminded him of their plans.

"Right," he realized, but quickly apologetically added, "I can't make it."

"Great," Seth responded ironically. "So Roman is in his lazy mood; and now you let me down, too? Am I supposed to go alone?"

"Trust me, I'd rather come with you…," Dean said. He didn't even try to hide how desperate he was.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing; I was just talking to Renee," he started explaining. Then he realized that Seth didn't actually know that Dean found out the truth. "Hey," he decided to take a different approach and maybe have a little fun. "What would you do if you learned that somebody had feelings for your friend?" Dean was curious about his reaction.

"Well, that depends," Seth hesitated. "Is it a secret?" he asked. Dean's question sounded too familiar and therefore suspicious to him.

"Okay, let's say it is a secret. But does it matter? He's your friend and he should know the truth, shouldn't he?"

"I really don't know," Seth took his time to give him a rather uncertain answer.

"Imagine you were told this secret and you wanted to at least give him a hint. The girl doesn't want to tell him, but you believe that he should be told about it. I mean, if I were the guy, I would want to know. What about you? Would you prefer not to know?"

It was making Seth uncomfortable, since he really wished he could tell Dean, but it wasn't his secret; he couldn't let Renee down by revealing Dean the truth.

"Look, Dean, I should really go. If you can't come with me, it's all right," he cowardly backed off.

"You dumbass," Dean shouted at him, but he tried not to sound too angry. "You have known that Renee has feelings for me, and you didn't tell me," he accused him.

"Where do you have that from?" Seth pretended it may or may not be true to see if Dean wasn't just guessing. But it was apparent that Seth suddenly got interested in the talk he tried to escape from.

"Renee," Dean replied. "So now you can admit that it's true."

"Fine," Seth sighed. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but it wouldn't be fair to her," he explained. "So what happened?" he wanted to know, now that there was a chance to have an honest conversation about it.

"Nothing," Dean responded. "I talked to Renee and … well, that's kind of it."

"And your girlfriend is waiting for you in your room," Seth suddenly remembered. "What are you going to do?"

Dean didn't really need to continue with pretending to be mad at Seth for keeping it from him. He understood and knew that if he was allowed to, he would tell him. Now he wished to just talk to Seth, so that he could try to help him find a solution.

"I have no idea. Renee said there's no pressure on me, but I know she waits for me to make a decision. But I'm really not confident doing it. Dammit! Life seemed easier two hours ago. Now I'm just pressurized from both sides," he said tiredly.

"What do you mean?" Seth needed some explanation. He dragged Dean toward nearest chairs because he knew they would be talking for some time, and the orange walls surrounding them didn't give them a good impression. Once they found an open space and sat down, they could continue.

"First, Cassie told me she had an opportunity to move to Las Vegas, and asked me if I wanted her to. Then I realized the thing about Renee, so I went to talk to her, and she told me it was up to me to choose if we should do something about it. So there are two women, and two decisions I need to make, both of which will change everything."

"Huh," was Seth's respond. "I really wouldn't want to be in your place."

"Thanks, man," Dean smiled ironically.

"What's gonna be your next step, anyway?" Seth hoped that Dean had at least some rough idea.

"Well, I've talked to Renee, and now it's time to talk to Cassie."

"Are you gonna break up with her?"

Dean didn't really want to answer all those stupid questions. He didn't know what to do, and so little could he tell Seth. It was pointless to ask. But Seth asked, and Dean had to respond. He chose not to answer directly, though. Instead, he said, "I've got to do something, right?"

"Is that yes?" Seth suspected.

Dean was biting his fingernails while trying to figure out if that's what he wanted. Should he leave Cassie? Should he start dating Renee? It seemed unfair. What has Cassie done to deserve the end of their relationship? And why should getting together with Renee solve anything? If only he didn't have to make that difficult decision. But the longer he would wait, the worse it would get. If there was something like the right time to choose, it was now. There was no way he could take several days or weeks to respond. He sighed at that thought. The situation made him desperate. But he shouldn't feel that way. Two women were fighting for him, after all. Both wanted him, but only one could get him. Either he tells Cassie to take the job, and their relationship gains in importance, or he chooses to take another road, and tries something new. There was no way he could know how dating Renee would end. It was a risky choice.

"I'm gonna talk to Cassie," Dean said out loud, to gain so much needed confidence. "Maybe," he thought, while Seth was carefully listening, "I could tell her about the situation and she can help me make up my mind." It sounded as a good idea, in his head.

"No!" Seth shouted. "Just no!" he opposed. According to him, that was a stupid, disastrous idea.

"Why not? That could actually help," Dean believed.

"How exactly?" he asked as if it was the stupidest thing somebody has ever said. He didn't wait for an answer, though; he knew that Dean couldn't come up with anything logical since there was nothing logical about it. "Do you want to end up with zero girls who wants to be with you? 'Cause I really don't think that asking your girlfriend if you should dumb her to be with somebody else could work out for you. Who would want to hear that their boyfriend hesitates whether he should stay with them, or break up with them and replace them with someone new? In my opinion, that's how you lose a girlfriend. I might be wrong," Seth said. Then added, "But I'm not."

"But," Dean tried to protest but Seth would not let him interrupt his speech.

"I'm not finished. And now, let's take a look at how this stupid decision could be perceived by Renee," he said ironically. "You're not sure whether you want to be with her or not. So what do you do? You discuss it with your current girlfriend. You tell her that there's somebody else who likes you, and you may or may not have feelings for her. You ask your actual girlfriend for advice about your potential girlfriend. How do you think that would make Renee feel? And again, how would that make Cassie feel? I mean, do you know anything about women at all?" Seth concluded.

Dean was not happy with Seth's offensive attitude. "Fuck you," Dean exclaimed tiredly. "So what if you're right? That would help me solve the problem, wouldn't it?" he downplayed the importance of the situation. "And anyway, you don't know Cassie. She's not that kind of girl who gets upset. She's not a girly girl; and, for your information, I'm sure she would appreciate honesty."

Seth sighed when he realized he couldn't do anything to change Dean's mind. He surrendered. "Do whatever you want. But don't say I haven't warned you."


	29. Chapter 29

Just a few moments before stepping inside the room, Dean rethought his plan. That was when he realized that he couldn't really talk to Cassie about Renee. Seth was right; that would be stupid, indeed. No good could come out of that discussion. Moreover, there were more relevant things to talk about. So when he opened the door, his mind was set on Cassie and her moving to Vegas. He was no longer thinking about Renee.

Cassie was awaiting him, comfortably lying on his bed. She didn't seem mad or upset that he left her there, alone, for more than was tolerable. She immediately noticed the door opened and in order to show that she was ready to pay attention to him, and also that she was glad that he returned, she sat up, but did not make a single move in his direction.

"So what did she say?" she asked him casually.

Dean immediately got interested, and also suspicious, but he wasn't quite sure what she meant. "What? Who?"

"Renee," Cassie responded as if he told her beforehand where he was going.

Her quick and accurate conclusion, no matter what it was based on, surprised him. He didn't mention he would go to see her and talk to her. Hell, he had no idea he would get there when he left.

Since Dean was unresponsive, Cassie smiled so that he wouldn't be so tensed, and ask him to sit down next to her. She waited until he did so, and when he was close enough for her to have him under control, preventing him from another escape, she started the conversation. "You went after her, didn't you?"

"Uhm, no," Dean refused that accusation. She wasn't totally correct, so technically he wasn't lying.

"Okay," Cassie accepted his hesitant response. "But after you left, you went to talk to her. Or is that not true?" She was certain it happened. The only real question was whether Dean would admit it.

"Yeah," he finally said. "How did you know?" he wondered.

"That's the least important thing right now."

"Huh," Dean mumbled. "I guess you want to return to our original conversation."

"Not really," she responded, trying to figure out whether Dean knew where she was going with this.

"I don't understand," Dean admitted.

She smiled in amusement. She took his hand and placed it between her palms. Then she looked him in the eye and saw that he was really confused and needed an explanation. But so did she. Her smile disappeared when she opened her mouth to pose him a simple, unexpected question. "Did you tell her you're in love with her?"

"What?" Dean freaked out. "I'm not in…," he protested fiercely before he was interrupted.

"All right," she needed to calm him down, but didn't change her opinion. "How come, then, that she's all you're talking about?" Her voice didn't express anger; it was steady and serene. It reflected her emotions. She wasn't mad, although she had every right to be. "I know more about her than about your family, or about your job," she added spontaneously.

"None of that is true. I love…," he wanted to finish that sentence, but she wouldn't let him. She stopped him by placing her finger on his lips.

"Don't say it. You know that you wouldn't mean it. Come on, Dean," she said, hoping to cheer him, as well as herself, up. "Face the reality. I tell you I have an opportunity to work in Vegas. You walk away. Next thing you do, you find yourself in her presence. You feel better with her, don't you?"

"Please, let's not have this discussion. Why don't we just…," he ending in whispering because he engaged his mouth with kissing her neck. She smiled; she liked it, but it had to stop. He was only trying to change the topic. She gently pushed him away, to what he reacted by escaping with his eyes.

"Look at me," she ordered him. "Can you honestly say that you are indifferent about her?"

He sighed. He so didn't want to have this conversation. He had it with Renee, then with Seth. It wore him out. He needed a break, a real escape. His body fell on the bed, his eyes got closed. His girlfriend followed his lead and lay down next to him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw her gentle smile, light blue eyes and that understanding in them. She didn't mean to judge him or make him feel nervous, guilty, or even intimidated by her potential anger.

"You don't have to speak, just listen," she thought that attitude would make it easier and more comfortable for him. "Firstly, I want you to know that I'm not mad. I'm not even jealous, to be honest. I know you like her. And, maybe subconsciously, you view her more than a friend. I'm not saying you love her, I'm saying that you care a lot about her, and she clearly is the object of your desires. Now I don't know how she feels about you, but I am pretty confident about your feelings."

"Then you know more than I do," Dean unexpectedly joined the conversation.

"What would you do if she had feelings for you, too?"

That question amused him and annoyed him at the same time. "Firstly, she _has_ feelings for me," he admitted, not thinking whether it was appropriate to say it. "Secondly, could you stop saying _too_? I've never said I had feelings for her."

"I know," she replied. "I did." Then she remembered the first part of Dean's answer. "So she has feelings for you, huh? What's the matter then?" she asked as if it was so simple.

"What's the matter you ask? I'm in a relationship, if you haven't noticed," Dean added ironically. And unlike you, I'm not clear about my _desires_." He refused to take the conversation seriously. According to him, it was a waste of time, which would, once again, lead him nowhere.

Cassie thought for a minute and Dean didn't feel the necessity to fill the silence. Then she happily looked at him, satisfied with herself and with the idea she came up with. She looked cheerful, but that emotion was out of place.

"Why don't we just call it a day?" she suggested nonchalantly.

"What?" he raised from bed in surprise. "Is that what you want?"

She harmonically answered without thinking about it too much, "It's the best thing to do. And, yeah, it's what I want. It's what you want," she changed her tone to emphasize it.

"I've never said that," he opposed quietly.

"You didn't need to. Look, Dean," she continued in her explanation, "we had a good a run, but as long as you are not fully committed to this relationship, we're stuck, or even sinking. I'm not blaming you," she reminded him. "I know it's difficult when we can't spend much time together, but even if I were to move to Vegas, it wouldn't help much. And Renee… she's your coworker, you have known her longer and there are not thousands of miles separating you. That relationship has potential, our doesn't. But as I said, we have been together only for something over a month, we cannot actually be angry that it didn't work out."

"But what went wrong?" His question sounded as if he was trying to save the relationship.

"Nothing. Everything had been great. I'm just making it easier for you."

"Are you giving up on us?" he tried to understand.

"No, sweety," she said with a smile on her face. Then she stroked his cheek and softly kissed him, knowing it was the last time. "I'm just making this decision for you, because you seem unable to choose."

Dean shook his head to show disagreement. "I can make my own decisions."

"Maybe, but you're too fucking slow. So I'm withdrawing from the battle. And trust me it's a good thing," she wanted to persuade him.

"This is not gonna work. I'm not even sure I want Renee that way," he expressed his doubts.

"You think about it too much. Don't think, just act."

"What do you mean?" he was confused.

"How can you know that you like chocolate ice cream when you never try it?"

"Are you suggesting that…?" he still wasn't totally clear about it.

"Go for it," she concluded.

"You are amazing, you know that?" he said when he realized what she has been doing for him.

She laughed, and then she gave him one final piece of advice, "Never tell Renee you said that."


	30. Chapter 30

**I've noticed I often start with apologizing that it took me so long to upload. I don't like when people write it, so I'm not going to write it either. But I want you to know that I was away; it's not like I stopped writing the story (like the others). Hopefully, I'll upload next chapter in a day or two.**

**! The set of this chapter is after this week's Main Event. If you haven't seen it (Watch it. It was amazing.), you might get confused. Basically, after the match Dean Ambrose had problems with the promo. He seemed to be injured. It might have been a work, because he did the Smackdown taping, but I believe he wasn't totally all right. Why would he say to Roman and Seth "I can't do the promo, you do it."? Either way, I respect him for his performance during and after the match.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Dean seemed not to hurry. Cassie set him free long ago, but he was still single. He hasn't talked to Renee, and in her opinion she shouldn't be the one to start the discussion. In reality, he knew what he was supposed to do and he wanted to do it, too, but he thought it was necessary to plan every single detail first so that it would be perfect. The problem was there was always something that could have been improved, or at least he believed so. It didn't really need to be perfect, it just needed to happen. Dean, though, seemed to appreciate every distraction and any excuse to postpone the talk. There were important matches he had to prepare for and then there was WrestleMania and post-WrestleMania Raw. He wouldn't admit it, but he was terrified. These were the kind of situations he wasn't comfortable with. It felt serious and difficult. It was taking his freedom away from him. He wanted it to happen but at the same time his brain was telling him life would be easier without getting into relationship with his colleague and friend. It was as if he forgot about everything Cassie told him. He was hesitant again and all those explanations she gave him faded away.

"Dean?" he heard a soft female voice calling his name. He turned to see Renee with a caring, understanding look on her face, and he knew she meant no harm and that she came there as a friend, but he couldn't be in her presence. He preferred being alone. It was easy to imagine what she wanted to say. She was worried, of course. She had been right there next to him, interviewing The Shield, when he failed to hide the pain that the injury from the match was causing him. Everything went smooth until the match was over. But he didn't want to think about it anymore. That shameful memory had to get out of his head once and for all. That was why he couldn't face Renee. That was why he simply walked past her without a single glance. He didn't care to close the door or see what was going on her mind when it seemed like he was ignoring her, when, in fact, he was ignoring what happened after their match with The Wyatt Family.

It didn't take long for him to realize how wrong and cowardly that behavior was of him. He was ashamed of himself. The whole day seemed like a disaster, in his eyes. When he woke up in the morning, he wouldn't even think that something could go wrong. Yet, there were too many things that did. And he tried to forget, but although he could pretend the not-well-handled promo did not happen or it was a work, he certainly couldn't hope Renee would forget how he ignored her afterwards, while she did nothing wrong. And the worst part was it ruined his plans to go and see what happens with Renee. First, he waited too long, and second, he must have unintentionally convinced her that he was not a guy she wanted to be with.

His heart was beating fast. His brain was occupied with trying to find a way that would help him save what could be saved. It wasn't over yet. He had to be able to work out a way to ask Renee out or something. He knew he wanted to. But it was late. Nothing simple would work. Because he waited for so long, and acted the way he did, he felt a grandiose gesture was necessary. If only he could think of something. He was never good at this. He tried to remember how he got together with Cassie, hoping that memory would help him analyze what it was that made her interested in him. How come that such a nice girl started dating him in the first place? If he could understand how the transition from one-night stand to relationship was made, then he should also be able to make the transition from friendship to romantic relationship. He still wasn't quite sure what he expected from crossing the friendship line with Renee but he was curious to find out. Unfortunately, he had only one chance, so he better be careful not to screw up. It was way too easy for him to do so; that was why people often advised him to think things through and avoid being too spontaneous.

That was the usual advice. But Cassie told him the opposite. That made him wonder. Should he listen to her or to people who have known him for much longer? To be honest, he never liked the process of planning or deciding. He would prefer to skip that part and jump into the scary but exciting talk with Renee. Actually, that's not what Cassie said. He was great at talking, there was no doubt about it, but it probably wasn't necessary. Carrie advised him to take action, and that sounded like a good idea.

The issue was that Renee was probably mad at him. He didn't mean to hurt her; he only wanted to protect himself from the annoying discussion and questions like "Are you okay?". He was all right now. There was no need for pity. He got hurt, that happens. But he didn't need to get reminded of that. This explanation made sense to him; he wasn't sure Renee would understand, too. More importantly, he didn't want to explain it to her. There were things he wanted to talk to her about; this was not one of them.

In the end, he took Cassie's advice. When he was walking down the hallway, though, he lost control over his brain and an idea popped in his mind if she wasn't selfish and didn't give him that advice just because she thought it would end badly for him. He stopped and wondered. Could that be the case? Was she playing vicious games with him? But then again, what would be the point? She was the one to break up with him. She told him to go after Renee. She let him go. If she wanted to keep him as her boyfriend, this didn't seem like the best way to go. And since they hadn't been together for long and never had any real arguments, revenge couldn't be a legitimate reason behind her advice. The only explanation that made perfect sense was that she, indeed, was a nice girl who didn't mean to harm him and chose to step away in order to let him reach for his true happiness. Dean smiled when he remembered her and what she had done for him. If it wasn't for her, he probably wouldn't be able to face his emotions and feelings for Renee that certainly existed, in one form or another. He wouldn't even be ready for a relationship. Just a couple of months ago, he was scared of having a real girlfriend. He refused to become "we". Now he was about to find out if he could imagine Renee as a part of his life. One thing was sure; if he could imagine that, he was ready to take a next step and make it happen. And maybe it would change his life forever.

With that in mind, with confidence and excitement, he knocked on her door. He looked down at his black shoes and noticed how steady his feet were. He adjusted the vest, and although it might have seemed strange, he didn't regret his decision to wear his ring gear. Then he put the hoodie on and smiled, ready to face the reality and see what happens. He chose to go with spontaneity. And with that attitude, it all made sense. Even the mask. He might have come there looking like a "hound of Justice", but he left the gimmick behind, and there was real him underneath the camouflage.

She opened the door and couldn't hide the surprise. She had plenty of questions on her mind. Yet, she didn't say a word. Dean didn't mind. Talking didn't come as something spontaneous to him anyway. He smiled, but she couldn't see. All that was unveiled to her were his eyes and his muscular arms. Finally, he took the mask off and threw it away. The same hand that was holding the mask before moved on Renee's neck. Then he kissed her.


	31. Chapter 31

The kiss took Renee by surprise. But that didn't mean she minded that Dean took the initiative. In fact, she liked it. And Dean seemed to be enjoying it as well. Suddenly, the gentle kiss was getting more intense. "Do you wanna go inside?" Renee mumbled after a while, as it was difficult to talk when Dean was pressing his lips against hers and wouldn't even let her get some air into her lungs.

"Mhm," Dean responded sufficiently enough. He didn't focus on the surroundings, and an idea of somebody walking by and seeing them didn't cross his mind at all. But privacy was welcomed. And it was certainly more comfortable inside, too. Dean used the strength of his body to tenderly push Renee's and easily moved both of them inside the room. While keeping his left hand on the side of her neck, he used his right hand to shut the door but didn't pay much attention to it; Renee was all he was focusing on. And he was slowly drowning in the kiss. That sensation surprised him. His actions surprised him, too. He did not think about anything, he really just went for it. And it felt good, even right. It wasn't forced or tedious. He was far from getting bored; he could imagine that kiss go on forever. In fact, he found it difficult to stop. But the end of that passionate first kiss would come sooner that he wished.

"Wait," Renee finally succeeded in stopping him and tried to think about what was going on. "Is it over with Cassie?" she asked a question that troubled her the most. She had a lot of questions in her mind, and she certainly needed some answers before submitting to Dean.

"Mhm," Dean said again while trying to reconnect with her lips. He, unlike Renee, didn't think that an explanation was necessary. The background information was secondary. He knew what he wanted and he decided to try and see where his spontaneous actions get him. That was what interested him. But he realized that Renee would not let him take control over her that easily. She didn't want him to kiss her lips, but, fortunately for him, there were other places on her body where he could move his hungry lips. As she was waiting for an answer longer and more complex than "mhm," he occupied his lips with kissing Renee's neck. At first, she pretended to be trying to pull him away, but he quickly noticed how much she liked it and that although she didn't want him to continue to avoid giving her an answer, she couldn't help herself but let him do whatever he liked. And both of them knew she would like it, too.

"Dean . . ." Renee pleaded, smilingly.

He finally surrendered and stopped taking advantage of his charm. His right hand ran through Renee's hair, while his nose soaked as much of her scent as it could. He has never noticed before how amazing she smelled. What was that fragrance? Or was there any at all? He has never thought about it before but could she just smell naturally good to him? He lost his focus. As soon as the reality took shape again, he stepped back and lovingly looked at her. "What is it, my dear, that you want to know?" he asked with a voice that was getting her on her knees. Then he took her hand and placed it between his palms.

She couldn't stop smiling; she was too happy. Every attempt to look serious failed. Not that she tried really hard; but she knew that even if she did, she wouldn't manage to erase the smile that emerged with the sight of Dean. "Can you tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know," he admitted, looking a little confused, but that emotion quickly disappeared from his face. "But I like it," he whispered into her ear, what made Renee blush immediately. She was almost sure that was his intention. She believed that he wanted to make her look weak, and for that matter, make her weak. A simple syllable pronounced with his deep, sexy voice had that effect on her. Actually, he didn't even need to speak at all. Just his presence was hard enough to deal with. She was easily losing her confidence and the assurance of what was right. When he was beside her, everything depended on him. He was the center of everything. Renee was almost sure that she didn't feel this way a couple of weeks ago. Her feelings for him must have increased significantly lately. Earlier, she would be able to make her own decisions; now she was totally lost and ready to surrender to him.

"Uhm," Dean interrupted her thinking. "Any other questions?" Dean's voice sounded calm. He was handling the situation much better than Renee who was totally under his spell, losing control over herself. No, that control was long gone. The effect that everything that Dean said or did had on her was overwhelming. How did that happen? When did a little crush on him changed into a massive desire to be his? It was not so long ago that she despised the women that went to bed with him; now she was willing to, no, she wished to, become one of them.

She did her best to pull herself together and say, "Yes. Where do you see this going?" In an instance, she realized that wasn't the kind of question she was supposed to ask, but it was out there and she had to hope he would understand that she didn't mean to put any kind of pressure on him.

Dean laughed, and at first wanted to hide the guilt in his eyes by looking away but he changed his mind. He, therefore, continued with his seduction, whether it was intentional or not. "I have a rough idea," he uttered. "But you don't wanna know," he added a not-so-well-hidden message.

"That's not what I meant," Renee pretended not to understand, or not to care about the real meaning of that sentence. Fortunately, Dean chose to ignore the hint he had given her and go back to her question.

"I don't know," he decided to be honest with her. "Let's say tonight I'm on an exploration spree."

"So," Renee had another question in mind, but she was interrupted by Dean.

"Shh." He placed a finger on her lips. He had no answers he could give her. And honestly, even if he had something to say, he didn't want to talk anyway. Of course, a serious conversation would come at some point, he was well aware of that; he just didn't think this was the right time. As he said, he wanted to explore. He wanted to find out what he really felt. And he didn't want to use his brain as a means of finding out.

"Let me set the ground rules," Dean spoke quietly and slowly enough for her to understand. "There will be no more questions; there will be no talking at all, as a matter of fact. We're not gonna think about this and try to figure out whether it's good or bad."

Renee opened her mouth to say something, but Dean quickly noticed her attempt and prevented her from protesting.

"Don't interrupt me, darling," he told her playfully. "One last thing," he returned to his "rules," "don't even think about feeling guilty. Remember, we're both adults and we're both single; we can do whatever we want." With that, he finished his little speech and went back to kissing. He knew that she was confused and his "explanation" didn't suffice for her, but even she realized that it was all she could get from him. He made himself clear, and she didn't want to question his authority. Both of them knew that he was the one in charge.


	32. Chapter 32

**! I'm adding a new chapter here until it will be able to upload again.**

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Renee appreciated Dean's initiative, but her mind kept thinking about what it all meant. Moreover, even though she really liked getting intimate with the person she cared so much about, an unknown feeling was building up. Feeling that would prevent her from enjoying the moment for which she waited so long. It was strange. She knew being there with Dean was what she wanted. She had her thoughts sorted out. Why was she freaking out then? She didn't let anything show, so Dean had no idea. Her heart was beating fast, but that was understandable; so was Dean's. There was another reason for her fast-beating heart, though; she was getting scared. She was losing the confidence that the situation was right. Dean told her not to think about it and forget about rightness or wrongness of what they were doing. In fact, there was really no doubt that there could be anything morally wrong with the situation. As Dean emphasized, they were both single. But what bothered her, what she believed the issue was, was that they were friends. At the moment, that friendship was secondary, if not tertiary. It was disappearing. Renee knew that would happen, but she didn't want to jump to "lovers" part. She wanted their relationship to develop naturally. Dean didn't tell her what his intentions were; but for what she has seen so far, he wouldn't mind getting in bed with her right away. She would mind. Eventually, she wanted it to happen, just not yet. It seemed too soon. Only few minutes ago, she didn't even know that Dean would stop by and kiss her, just like that. It was great, but she didn't see it coming. Now she kind of saw what was coming; unfortunately, she didn't think she was ready to do it.

Dean kept holding her close. Unlike Renee's mind, his was shut. He fully focused on his bodily desires and needs, and he meant to satisfy them. He noticed Renee's eyes were closed most of the time. He believed that it was a good sign. Her body seemed a little tensed, but he didn't give it any importance. Everything was all right, according to him. He kissed her, she responded. He moved his hand on her ass, she let him. Only when he decided to take his vest off, she stepped back.

"I'm gonna take a shower," she told him, trying to sound casually.

"Shall I join you?" Dean dared to ask, mainly as a joke, but if she said yes, he would be pleased to do so.

Renee's look gave him an answer. But he didn't consider his bold question an issue. He felt it was going well with her, so he could try his luck.

"I'll wait here," he added to assure her that he wouldn't force himself in.

Renee looked around to find some clean underwear she could wear afterwards. She remembered she left her nightwear underneath the bed sheet so she took it out, and headed for the bathroom. After three or four steps, though, she stopped and looked back at Dean, who was sitting in the armchair, making himself comfortable. He watched her as she gathered her things and walked away. He gave himself permission to think again, and came to conclusion that he was really glad he decided to break things off with Cassie, or that was how he allowed himself to remember it, and come to Renee, the person to whom he was gradually more and more attracted. He could really see this going somewhere. He hasn't had much time to think about it yet. Or, actually, there was enough time, he just wasn't in mood to give it some serious thinking. But even without that, now that he saw Renee, and he definitely saw her in a new light, he realized he wanted her to become part of his life. He was ready to move on from Cassie, with whom he hadn't been for long anyway, and start another chapter, this time with Renee. When he thought about her, he couldn't come up with a single thing that he didn't like about her, or a reason why he shouldn't want to be with her. She seemed perfect. He knew that she probably wasn't, but his mind idealized her and highlighted her virtues. At the moment, he viewed her as the queen of his dreams.

"Actually," Renee spoke and immediately caught his attention. "I think you should go."

He didn't understand. Why would she want him gone? Did he do something wrong? He certainly wasn't aware of screwing up. He was careful not to mess up this time. Of course, he did not plan ahead, but he believed that it would work in his favor. Now she wanted him to leave. Just like that.

Dean stood up and walked toward her. She was unintentionally moving away from him in attempt to create distance. He noticed that she was stepping back, so he stopped walking and let there be few feet between them. "Is it the vest?" He asked when he remembered her reaction to him taking it off.

"No," she responded and shook her head to reinforce her statement.

"Then?" He spread his arms in confusion.

Renee failed to give him an explanation of her behavior. She didn't really want him to leave, yet she said those words. She wished he would understand, but not even herself knew why she was asking him go away. His presence was what she longed for. It made no sense. She has been waiting for so long for this, and now, when he is standing in front of her, willing to take her in his arms and make her his, she chooses to be alone instead.

"Just go." The words were coming out of her mouth without her wanting them to come true. She ordered her arms to reach for him and her lips to connect with his, but there was zero obedience. Her actions confused her. Her emotions were out of place. She was supposed to be happy that he was finally there. Instead, she felt confused, absent, and scared. She was scared of it moving too fast. Why was he so calm? Why did he seem ready? He was supposed to be freaked out, not her. Virtually, she has been longer in this relationship. He found out about her feelings only recently. At first, he seemed confused and indecisive, unable to say what he felt for her. Now, his actions were confident. There was no doubt he knew what he wanted. Their roles were reversed. She was back at the beginning. Except, her feelings were not secret anymore. She exposed herself to him. There was no going back, and that was what terrified her the most. It felt too real. It was happening. While she has been only dreaming about being with him, he took action.

"Okay," Dean said after a while of considering what would be the best thing to do. He still did not understand what was going on, but if she needed to figure out what she wanted, he would grant her some time. It seemed strange that she was the one to back off, but he accepted it without further questions.

He didn't look at her again. He obediently left. She couldn't say if he was pissed off or not, but he had every right to be angry. She certainly was. Why would she let him go? Was she willing to take the risk of him not coming back? She wondered if fear, for which there was no reason, could really drive her to pushing him away. This might have been the only chance for her to be with him. He might not want to return after witnessing her moodiness. In an instance, she turned from a submissive, but confident woman to emotionally unstable one. She hated herself. She hated herself so much for making him leave. She wanted him. Her body disagreed with her decision, and her sane self refused to listen to the mixed signals her brain was giving her. She wanted to listen to her heart only.

All of the things that she was holding in her hands fell on the floor. Renee quickly moved toward the door, opened it in a hurry, and ran outside. She ran through the corridor and around the corner, but he was gone. She was left alone because of her stupid, thoughtless actions. There was no reason to stand there. She could follow him into his room, but it was too late anyway. And at the moment she was unable to explain him why she wouldn't let him seduce her. Therefore, she returned back. In front of her room, there was his mask. He must have forgotten he left it there. She picked it up and squeezed it in her hand. But she didn't take it inside. She placed it on the exact same spot where she found it and left it there.

* * *

**Chapter 33**

That night, Seth returned to his hotel room, which he shared with Dean, quite late. He spent a couple of hours watching college football with Roman. It was something they often did, but Dean rarely joined them. He wasn't that keen on it. He also didn't spend his youth playing football like Roman. Moreover, he had better things to do. He hoped to spend the night, or at least some part of it, with Renee. That plan fell apart, tough.

When Seth entered the room, he found Dean inside, moving from side to side. Seth saw that he was on the phone. "Really? We didn't?" he was saying, but Seth knew too little to understand what the conversation was about. Dean didn't notice immediately that his roommate came back and he no longer had the privacy that he considered necessary for the call. "I guess you have a point." Dean kept talking. He was not facing Seth and he seemed pretty focused on the discussion; therefore he still believed he was there alone. Only when Seth purposely coughed, Dean went quiet and turned around to see the ninja. "I've gotta go," he quickly wanted to end the call. "But thanks. . . . Yeah, I'll let you know," he finished.

"Hey, buddy," Dean tried to play it casual.

"What are you doing here?" Seth surprised him with his question.

Dean was pretty tired. To such an irrational question, Dean would normally offer some sarcastic comment, but this time he didn't feel like joking. He would appreciate if Seth made it clear what he meant, so he gave him chance to explain himself. But honestly, he didn't expect to get an explanation. He kind of got used to people saying or doing something and then not explaining why. He was in that situation earlier that night. So when Seth didn't seem to be about to make a point, Dean just took off his clothes and lied down on the bed.

Meanwhile, Seth kept standing on the same spot. He hasn't moved. He was too busy trying to figure out what was going on. Absent look on his face expressed his confusion. It didn't make sense to him. "Why are you here?" he asked again.

"Because I live here, idiot," Dean responded briefly, and then went on to pretend he was sleeping. "Goodnight," he said quietly first and turned his nightstand lamp off.

Seth walked toward his own bed, which was right next to Dean's, and sat down, looking consistently on Dean. He turned the lamp back on, which didn't please Dean.

"It's late," Dean murmured in his deep voice. "Either say what you want from me, or let me sleep," he informed Seth about his options. In fact, only one option was acceptable, but he made it look like he gave Seth a choice.

"I found this," Seth started explaining and took a Shield mask out of his pocket.

Dean, lying on his belly, turned his head to the right and opened one eye. His brain refused to comprehend. "I didn't know you lost it," Dean spoke to the pillow, but somehow Seth understood him anyway.

"This is not mine." Seth's voice got louder. He wanted Dean to pay attention to him, but he wasn't willing to.

"Mhm," Dean recognized what he was saying, but he didn't even try to pretend to be concerned.

"Is it yours?" Seth asked suspiciously.

"No," Dean responded after a few seconds of silence, in which he basically forgot Seth's question. He just wanted to have a break, get some sleep, so that he could wake up without circles under his eyes. Both of them needed to wake up early, so it was also in Seth's best interest to skip the boring talk and enjoy the soft bed instead.

"I found it in front of Renee's room." Seth finally gave him some information that interested him. Although Seth hoped for a more appropriate reaction, Dean at least actually started to pay attention. Not much, but it was an improvement.

"Thanks, man," Dean said and basically admitted it was his, indeed. Then he grabbed the mask and put it under the pillow. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it, unlike Seth who wanted to hear every detail.

"So will you finally tell me why you are here and not there with her?" he demanded.

"Nah." Dean turned his head to the other side in hope to make Seth realize he didn't want to talk, but Seth would not give up that easily.

He accepted that Dean was trying to make his stop caring, but that wouldn't make him shut up. He kept asking. "What happened?" He automatically assumed that something important took place in that room. It was undeniable that Dean was with Renee that night. But why was his mask outside? When Seth found it, when he was walking by and spotted it lying on the floor, he believed that Dean was inside. That was why he didn't bother knocking; he wanted to give them some privacy and ask the following morning. But when he walked inside his and Dean's hotel room, he was surprised to see Dean. He certainly didn't expect him to be there.

But what did he know? He had plenty of questions on his mind that needed to be answered. Otherwise, he wouldn't be calm enough to fall asleep. He was ready to bother Dean all night, until he reveals to him what happened that night between him and Renee. He would even splash cold water over Dean just to wake him up, if that was what it took to get the answers. "Did you two sleep together?" Seth asked carefully. There was no response, though. A long silence followed. Then Seth came to a sudden realization. "Wait . . . Are you still with Cassie?" The last time he talked to Dean about this stuff, he was still dating her. That was a while ago, but he had no new information. He had nothing to build his assumptions on. "I hope you didn't cheat on her."

The fact that Seth was still talking really annoyed Dean. He was seriously trying to fall asleep, but with Seth in his detective mood it was impossible. For a moment, he wished he was sharing room with Roman instead. Roman wouldn't bother him so much, that was for sure. But the fact was Seth was the one he was sharing the room with. There was nothing that could be done about it at the moment. Dean had to find a way to make him shut up. He tried to ignore him, but that didn't seem to help. Therefore, in an attempt to get rid of him, he turned around one more time, looked at Seth and clearly stated, "No, we broke up. Now go to sleep."

"Did you sleep with Renee?" Seth asked again, this time more insistently.

"Jesus, Seth," Dean exclaimed. "Just let it go," he begged.

"Are you two together?" he ignored his wishes completely.

"No," Dean said quietly. "It's not that simple." Dean's confused and worryingly-sounded tone seemed to finally have made Seth stop posing questions which Dean didn't mean to answer anyway. Seth was curious, now even more, but he correctly assumed that the conversation was evidently leading nowhere; thus it was pointless. Moreover, he started to think that it didn't go very well with Renee. His good mood left him. He went to bed, but before closing his eyes, he had one more question to ask.

"Are you okay?" Of course, the typical answer would be yeah, sure, or something like that, no matter how the person really felt. In this case, Seth hoped for an actual answer. If something went wrong, indeed, he was there for Dean. He was there for Renee as well. If they needed his help, he would do anything he could. If Dean wanted to have an actual conversation about the problems, which seemed to exist, Seth didn't care it was almost 3 a.m., he was there for his friend, 24/7.

"I actually am," Dean said. He seemed to really mean it. It was a little strange considering the situation he found himself in, but he really seemed to be full of hope. "Now go to sleep, or, I swear to God, I'm never sharing a room with you again."


	33. Chapter 33

That night, Seth returned to his hotel room, which he shared with Dean, quite late. He spent a couple of hours watching college football with Roman. It was something they often did, but Dean rarely joined them. He wasn't that keen on it. He also didn't spend his youth playing football like Roman. Moreover, he had better things to do. He hoped to spend the night, or at least some part of it, with Renee. That plan fell apart, tough.

When Seth entered the room, he found Dean inside, moving from side to side. Seth saw that he was on the phone. "Really? We didn't?" he was saying, but Seth knew too little to understand what the conversation was about. Dean didn't notice immediately that his roommate came back and he no longer had the privacy that he considered necessary for the call. "I guess you have a point." Dean kept talking. He was not facing Seth and he seemed pretty focused on the discussion; therefore he still believed he was there alone. Only when Seth purposely coughed, Dean went quiet and turned around to see the ninja. "I've gotta go," he quickly wanted to end the call. "But thanks. . . . Yeah, I'll let you know," he finished.

"Hey, buddy," Dean tried to play it casual.

"What are you doing here?" Seth surprised him with his question.

Dean was pretty tired. To such an irrational question, Dean would normally offer some sarcastic comment, but this time he didn't feel like joking. He would appreciate if Seth made it clear what he meant, so he gave him chance to explain himself. But honestly, he didn't expect to get an explanation. He kind of got used to people saying or doing something and then not explaining why. He was in that situation earlier that night. So when Seth didn't seem to be about to make a point, Dean just took off his clothes and lied down on the bed.

Meanwhile, Seth kept standing on the same spot. He hasn't moved. He was too busy trying to figure out what was going on. Absent look on his face expressed his confusion. It didn't make sense to him. "Why are you here?" he asked again.

"Because I live here, idiot," Dean responded briefly, and then went on to pretend he was sleeping. "Goodnight," he said quietly first and turned his nightstand lamp off.

Seth walked toward his own bed, which was right next to Dean's, and sat down, looking consistently on Dean. He turned the lamp back on, which didn't please Dean.

"It's late," Dean murmured in his deep voice. "Either say what you want from me, or let me sleep," he informed Seth about his options. In fact, only one option was acceptable, but he made it look like he gave Seth a choice.

"I found this," Seth started explaining and took a Shield mask out of his pocket.

Dean, lying on his belly, turned his head to the right and opened one eye. His brain refused to comprehend. "I didn't know you lost it," Dean spoke to the pillow, but somehow Seth understood him anyway.

"This is not mine." Seth's voice got louder. He wanted Dean to pay attention to him, but he wasn't willing to.

"Mhm," Dean recognized what he was saying, but he didn't even try to pretend to be concerned.

"Is it yours?" Seth asked suspiciously.

"No," Dean responded after a few seconds of silence, in which he basically forgot Seth's question. He just wanted to have a break, get some sleep, so that he could wake up without circles under his eyes. Both of them needed to wake up early, so it was also in Seth's best interest to skip the boring talk and enjoy the soft bed instead.

"I found it in front of Renee's room." Seth finally gave him some information that interested him. Although Seth hoped for a more appropriate reaction, Dean at least actually started to pay attention. Not much, but it was an improvement.

"Thanks, man," Dean said and basically admitted it was his, indeed. Then he grabbed the mask and put it under the pillow. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it, unlike Seth who wanted to hear every detail.

"So will you finally tell me why you are here and not there with her?" he demanded.

"Nah." Dean turned his head to the other side in hope to make Seth realize he didn't want to talk, but Seth would not give up that easily.

He accepted that Dean was trying to make his stop caring, but that wouldn't make him shut up. He kept asking. "What happened?" He automatically assumed that something important took place in that room. It was undeniable that Dean was with Renee that night. But why was his mask outside? When Seth found it, when he was walking by and spotted it lying on the floor, he believed that Dean was inside. That was why he didn't bother knocking; he wanted to give them some privacy and ask the following morning. But when he walked inside his and Dean's hotel room, he was surprised to see Dean. He certainly didn't expect him to be there.

But what did he know? He had plenty of questions on his mind that needed to be answered. Otherwise, he wouldn't be calm enough to fall asleep. He was ready to bother Dean all night, until he reveals to him what happened that night between him and Renee. He would even splash cold water over Dean just to wake him up, if that was what it took to get the answers. "Did you two sleep together?" Seth asked carefully. There was no response, though. A long silence followed. Then Seth came to a sudden realization. "Wait . . . Are you still with Cassie?" The last time he talked to Dean about this stuff, he was still dating her. That was a while ago, but he had no new information. He had nothing to build his assumptions on. "I hope you didn't cheat on her."

The fact that Seth was still talking really annoyed Dean. He was seriously trying to fall asleep, but with Seth in his detective mood it was impossible. For a moment, he wished he was sharing room with Roman instead. Roman wouldn't bother him so much, that was for sure. But the fact was Seth was the one he was sharing the room with. There was nothing that could be done about it at the moment. Dean had to find a way to make him shut up. He tried to ignore him, but that didn't seem to help. Therefore, in an attempt to get rid of him, he turned around one more time, looked at Seth and clearly stated, "No, we broke up. Now go to sleep."

"Did you sleep with Renee?" Seth asked again, this time more insistently.

"Jesus, Seth," Dean exclaimed. "Just let it go," he begged.

"Are you two together?" he ignored his wishes completely.

"No," Dean said quietly. "It's not that simple." Dean's confused and worryingly-sounded tone seemed to finally have made Seth stop posing questions which Dean didn't mean to answer anyway. Seth was curious, now even more, but he correctly assumed that the conversation was evidently leading nowhere; thus it was pointless. Moreover, he started to think that it didn't go very well with Renee. His good mood left him. He went to bed, but before closing his eyes, he had one more question to ask.

"Are you okay?" Of course, the typical answer would be yeah, sure, or something like that, no matter how the person really felt. In this case, Seth hoped for an actual answer. If something went wrong, indeed, he was there for Dean. He was there for Renee as well. If they needed his help, he would do anything he could. If Dean wanted to have an actual conversation about the problems, which seemed to exist, Seth didn't care it was almost 3 a.m., he was there for his friend, 24/7.

"I actually am," Dean said. He seemed to really mean it. It was a little strange considering the situation he found himself in, but he really seemed to be full of hope. "Now go to sleep, or I swear to God I'm never sharing a room with you again."


	34. Chapter 34

When Seth woke up, Dean wasn't there. He went hunting. Of course, he didn't go on an actual hunt. But he had something of that kind in mind. After he woke up and took a shower, he had this rare moment when he did not know what to wear. He never really care much about what he was wearing, but now it seemed kind of important, so he wanted to give it a little more thought. He put on his jeans, but then wondered if a simple, plain T-shirt wouldn't be too casual. Maybe a formal shirt would better for the occasion. He searched for one, but soon realized that he didn't bring any. He actually didn't have many of those at home, either. So, ultimately, he was left with few choices. The problem was all the shirts looked same in his eyes. Finally, he based his decision on a simple logic, and went with the cleanest one. Then, being careful not to wake Seth up, he quietly opened the door and went toward the staircase. Three minutes later, he found himself standing in front of a well-known room. He knocked.

He wasn't nervous. Just as the night before, he felt ready. He was confident. What differed was that this time he had a plan. And the plan would secure that the situation from the last night would not repeat itself. It wasn't that he believed he screwed up last night and needed to make up. But, on the other hand, neither did he blame Renee. What happened, happened. Yet he wondered what she was thinking about last night. He was quite curious about her reaction when she sees him. Will she start by apologizing for her "inappropriate behavior?" Or will she put the blame on him? Actually, it didn't really matter to him. The last night, and all that happened, was over. It was a new day, and, as someone would say, a new beginning. It may have sounded like a cliché, but Dean honestly viewed it that way. He wanted to put everything behind, and take a different approach.

Soon enough, she opened the door. She seemed to have been awake for quite some time. She was dressed up, wearing a summer dress with flower pattern. She has already done her hair and make-up, too. But her appearance wasn't the most important thing to him at the moment. His primary concern was how she would react. It pleased him to see that the reaction on her face when she saw him was better than he expected. There was evident joy. She was smiling even before he started speaking. There was much enthusiasm. She seemed so different from yesterday. The last time he saw her, she expressed the darkness of the night. She was serious and tensed; there was a lot of effort put into controlling herself. Now, with the morning, came her good mood. This was Renee who shone brighter than the sun, and who could brighten up his day even without trying. It was as if there was an aura spreading around her, and sending warm and calming rays his way.

He wanted to compliment her, but he decided not to. Maybe it would be okay, it certainly wouldn't be inappropriate, but he needed to keep his distance. He had to stick with the plan this time. But in the end, he couldn't help himself and say at least, "Good morning, sunshine." That was not exactly what he was meant to say, but what the hell. He was the one who set the rules for himself; therefore he had every right to break them.

She laughed. Then her smile went a little sour as she remembered the scene from last night. She was ashamed of herself. She should have been able to handle the situation better. After all, Dean did everything she wanted him to. For few minutes, it went great. Then she lost the control over herself and got irrational. She didn't long for bringing up her last night's failure, but, according to her, an apology was necessary. "I am . . ."

Dean interrupted her, predicting how that sentence would go. "It doesn't matter. Let's forget about it, okay?" It was a kind offer, although not the ideal one. From all the things that happened last night, there were also those they wanted to remember. There was nothing wrong with a little romance. They both liked it, and they couldn't forget it even if they tried. But for the purposes of moving on, they needed to take the situation from last night as a whole, and, in that case, it was better to leave everything behind than attempting to analyze the problem. Renee certainly wouldn't feel comfortable having to explain why she wanted him to leave. Dean was actually doing her a big favor when he suggested pretending it never happened. The best solution was to accept it didn't work out, but remember that it doesn't necessarily mean it never will.

"I am so . . ." Renee tried again, but didn't get to finish the sentence.

"Nuh-uh."

"But . . ." she tried one more time.

"Did not happen," Dean emphasized.

"Fine," she finally gave in. "It did not happen," she agreed with him, but added hastily, "But I'm sorry." The effortlessness with which she put it made them both smile. Renee could clearly see there was no reason for her to feel guilty. Dean didn't seem to want to put the blame on her, although she saw it as completely her fault. He was not mad, either. She was thankful for his attitude, although it surprised her a little. But she wouldn't demand that he tells her why he decided not to ask why she acted so strangely before. After all, it worked in her favor.

"Do you wanna go inside?" Renee changed the subject. According to her, there was still a slight chance he would return to last night and ask for some explanation. She wanted to prevent that from happening. She knew that he wouldn't necessarily get angry; he seemed to have forgiven her. At least that was how she viewed it. In his eyes, there was nothing to forgive.

"Actually," he responded to her question, "I was wondering if you'd like to grab some coffee."

"Coffee?"

"Or breakfast, or brunch," he gave her more options. "I'm kinda hungry, to be honest," he added casually.

"Hm, all right, sure." Her answer was rather hesitant. She didn't quite know what to think about it. Did he mean to totally forget about the kissing and return to being just friends? She didn't want to overanalyze it, but she needed to be sure what he meant. "We can get some breakfast," she said. Then she carefully added, "I guess there's nothing wrong with hanging out as friends." A justification would be nice, since she had no idea what Dean's intentions were.

"How about a date?" he countered. He tilted his head and added a confident, irresistible smile. He didn't put much effort into asking her out; or at least he made it look that way. In fact, he's been thinking about it all night, but that was something Renee didn't need to know.

"A date?" she repeated and couldn't help smiling as well. A date was definitely more appealing than going out as friends, which would be kind of strange after they had kissed. Dean asking Renee on a date was a pleasant surprise for her; something she didn't expect to happen after she acted like she was no longer interested in him. She was glad it didn't discourage him. It actually seemed more as if it encouraged him, which was strange. It didn't really matter to her what made him do so; she was happy it happened. Her initial confusion and surprise caused by his question was quickly replaced with a smile, which would not go away. Renee didn't have to think twice about her answer. "Sounds lovely," she responded, but Dean already knew she would say yes.


	35. Chapter 35

"I hate this," Renee sighed. Dean just smiled at the thought of her misery. "I can't say if you're lying or not."

"Oh, I'm not lying," he opposed and made it sound like he was hurt by her accusation. He wasn't really. He was enjoying the fact that she was confused.

"Really?! 'Cause it sounds like a total bullshit."

"Well, I'm not saying something actually happened. But when I walked into their room that morning, they were both inside. Sleeping. In the same bed. Next to each other. And I'm not hundred percent sure about this, but they may have been naked."

"That did not happen," Renee said, as she took Dean's hand off her shoulder and sat up to look at him. She tried to read the credibility of the story from his eyes, but it was impossible. He was too good at lying, what made her think for an instance about their possible relationship. It would be easy for him to cheat and pretend he's faithful, wouldn't it? Renee had no reason to think about it now, though. Therefore she returned to the topic. "Did it happen?" she asked suspiciously. She was going back and forth and couldn't make up her mind about the story.

"It did," Dean insisted. "I remember I was standing there for few seconds, confused, disgusted, and wondering what the hell was going on. But as I was thinking about it, my mind got loose and started picturing what might have happened. I was even more disgusted. And I was like argh, I don't really wanna know. I so don't wanna know. I turned around, but I had to look at them one more time. And I saw them spooning. They were fucking spooning! At that point it was all too vivid. And I wondered what if they really were naked. And I felt like throwing up." Dean put a lot of effort into telling the story and making it sound convincing; he paused where necessary, raised his voice to emphasize the particular part, and kept an eye contact with Renee. But he realized that he had to make a mistake somewhere when he saw the change of her face expression. It alerted him. She was no longer confused and she didn't seem angry. Now it was quite the opposite; she was quiet and in harmony with his storytelling. Her smile told a story of its own. She has overcome the strength of his persuasion and seemed to have found out the truth.

"You went too far," she said as she leaned toward him. Then she whispered, "Liar."

But he wouldn't let her take control. He wouldn't give up that easily. He rose from bed to be in the same level as she was and could look her directly in the eye, powerfully, even aggressively. His animal instincts were on the rise, but he was well conscious of the situation. With an evilish smile, he got a hold of both her arms and pushed them so that she would fall onto the bed. He looked down at her and bit his lip. Still putting pressure on her arms, he leaned closer until their bodies were almost touching and questioned her accusation, "Or am I?" But he didn't wait to get an answer, he kept moving closer, having a staring contest with her, but thenshe ruined his attempt to make a move.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. Her face expressed disgust, but she was laughing. She gave him a guilty look.

"What the hell, woman?" Dean joked, but he was quite shocked.

"I just . . . I imagined it," she explained and burst out laughing.

"Ew! What exactly?" he asked although he did not really want to know.

"Not _that_! I don't know. Just them, holding each other in their arms, whispering into each other's ears, leaning for a kiss . . ." she said, and the absent look on her face made it clear she was picturing it again.

"Stop. I don't need to hear it."

"It is your fault anyway. Why would you even make up that kind of story?"

"Hey, I did not make it up," Dean stayed true to his version.

"See, I just don't believe you," Renee wanted to get up, but Dean's hands were quicker to keep her close.

"Maybe that was my intention. Maybe it really happened but I made it look like it didn't on purpose. Maybe," he paused to get her under his spell, "I wanted you to believe I am lying while in fact I was telling the truth, exaggerating, so that even if you witnessed their affection, you would not believe it. Or, I just said it to get that image into you head, confuse you and make you question what actually happened. And, no matter if it's a truth or a lie, I guarantee that next time you see Seth or Roman, you'll be nervous and permanently thinking about what I said. And you'll be tempted to ask them."

"You are so cruel," Renee realized.

"That's why you like me so much," he said courageously.

Renee shook her head and sighed. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," Dean countered. "I'm very lovable." Dean thought he would give kissing another try, but as soon as they heard a card being put in the door, they moved away from each other, as if they were doing something bad.

Seth entered, and Dean and Renee shared a look. They planned to play it casual and make it look like they were just hanging out. But frankly, they didn't care much about what Seth would think that was going on.

"Hey, buddy," Dean addressed him, "we were just talking about you."

"No, we weren't," Renee refused to admit the embarrassing, awkward conversation they had before.

"So what is it this time?" Seth asked. It became a habit for Dean to tell his little stories, mostly concerning Seth, which usually were far from reality. Seth somehow almost always found out about the newest gossip. At first Seth was really angry at Dean, then it changed to annoyance and now he was just indifferent. He realized there was no way to stop Dean from spreading the gossip. For him, Seth learned, it was just fun.

Dean's malicious smile made Seth question his interest. He turned to Renee and asked, "Do I wanna know?"

She immediately responded with a short but sufficient, "No."

"So, anyway, are you telling me that you two have nothing better to do than talk about me? And it doesn't even surprise me that he," he pointed at Dean, "throws dirt at me, but you Renee now joined in?"

"No," she refused the accusation.

"What can I say," Dean took the lead, "we're partners in crime."

"No, we're not," Renee disagreed, but she kind of like that idea. It sounded appealing to her.

"So that's what you two are?" Seth wondered. He already moved on to the next topic.

Renee looked at Dean, as if he was the one to know the answer to that question. Dean wouldn't show a single sign of hesitating but wouldn't answer in the way they wanted him to, either. "We're the Rolleigns shippers," he joked.

"Oh, cut your bullshit, Ambrose," Seth exclaimed.

Listening to the conversation these two were having, Renee returned to wondering about what Dean told her. There was plenty of bullshit, that's obvious, but what if some parts of that story were true? Maybe Dean didn't completely make it up. Damn it, Renee thought, he's such a good manipulator. He can make her believe whatever he wants her to believe. He had a lot of experience in those brainwashing games.

"And don't try to get away from the subject," Seth continued. "I'm pretty sure Renee, too, would like to know how you would define what's between you. Don't you?" he asked her directly.

"Nah, I'm good," she surprised both of them with her answer.

"Come on, people," Seth wouldn't let it go. "Are you in a relationship?"

Dean and Renee looked at each other and then unanimously responded, "No." Seth would expect that answer from Dean, but the fact that Renee said it was strange. And it even sounded as if she was in peace with it. Didn't Renee want to be Dean's girlfriend, after all?

"Are you dating?" Seth posed another question. This time they didn't agree on the answer, though.

Renee went for the energetic "no," just as the last time, but Dean hesitated, then caught Seth's attention by saying, "I think so."

"No, we're not," Renee said assuredly. Seth wondered why would she disagree, and why would she be happy about opposing Dean.

Both Dean and Seth waited for an explanation from Renee. Even Dean seemed a little bummed about her reaction.

"Come on," she said confidently, "we've been on one date. That's not dating."

"Hmm, so if we went on another date, would that meet you requirements for dating?" Dean asked her.

"I guess so."

"All right. I'll pick you up at six."

"Smooth," Seth noted sarcastically.

"That's not how it works," Renee laughed, while Seth observed. He probably should have left, but his curiosity wouldn't let him.

"Really? You may want to reconsider that tonight." Dean's confidence was attractive. Renee couldn't resist it. Although she didn't want to let him dominate her, she couldn't refuse his indirect, or maybe too direct, proposal to go out with him again. She didn't give him a straight answer, though. She just looked at him, shook her head in disbelief, yet both of them knew that the date would happen. But for now she could keep her disapproving attitude. She could pretend to be mad and leave without a word.

When Renee was gone, Seth acknowledged Dean's strategy, "Well-played, Ambrose."


End file.
